That's My Seaweed Brain
by Rae-Prite
Summary: Cliche as it sounds, this is what I think will happen in MoA. Spoilers aplenty from any and all books in the series. Annabeth's POV unless otherwise noted. Percabeth, Frazel, Jasper, Lyna and Tylla *Temporary Hiatus, PLEASE SEE THE POLL ON MY PROFILE*
1. Chapter 1

_Well, hello, hello! I'm Rae :D You might know me from around the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew section of the site, or you might not. Doesn't matter to me, I'm still going to write this story ;) I had this thought stuck in my head – as writing inspiration usually does – of what R.R. didn't say, but really should have, at the end of _The Son of Neptune_. If you haven't read it, then be aware this story is chock full of spoilers, so don't flame me and say I didn't warn you – 'cause I did! Right there. See it? I warned you right there! …oh whatever, you people are useless *eye roll*. Alright, so that said, this is probably going to be a one-shot, but it may get longer depending on the response I receive for it. In case you're wondering, yes that was a hint that I'd like some reviews pretty please! ;D Onward!_

_Edit: 10/24/11 – A couple of astute reviewers have pointed out some inconsistencies I missed when editing before I posted. These problems have been corrected, but the chapter is largely the same. Thanks for reading._

**That's My Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter 1**

I stood on the bow of the ship, watching as the Roman camp came into view. Jason had called it Camp Jupiter, which made sense, as Jupiter is Zeus' Roman aspect. He also happens to be Jason's father, but that's not important right now.

All that mattered is that we're finally here, and I knew somewhere down in that maze of white columns and buildings, is Percy Jackson, the boy I love. He's been missing for nine months, two weeks, four days, twenty-one hours and five minutes. Not that I've been counting.

My skin tingled in anticipation, as if my body could feel Percy's presence nearby; just the same as I could sense if a monster might be close. I literally ached at the thought of having Percy hold me in his arms again, of feeling his soft, messy black hair, smelling the scent of ocean on his skin, and seeing those mesmerizing green eyes.

Oh gods, just the wait I go through while we set the ship down in a large field nearly killed me. Everything inside was screaming at me to jump off the _Argo II_ and run into that camp, slashing anyone who got in my way with my dagger. Okay, so that might sound a bit extreme, but if your boyfriend disappeared without a trace for as long as mine did, you'd be impatient too.

Finally, Jason set us down easily and Leo shut off the ship's engines. I'm not a hundred percent clear on how the ship operates, but basically it can fly or sail only with the help of a demigod's or god's power. Hence, we needed both Jason and Percy to get to the birthplace of the gods. Aside from the prophecy, we couldn't expect either one of them to carry a ship as big as the _Argo II_ all the way to Greece by themselves.

As soon as the ship was one hundred percent on the ground and gangplank was down, I was running. I pounded the turf beneath my sneakers, skirting around deep scars in the ground, along with a few potholes and several unnatural ditches. I got the feeling from the uneven turf and scorch marks that this field saw a lot of battles, and part of me wondered if it's just my imagination or if some of the dug up grass is fresh enough to come from just yesterday.

I'm not focused on that though – I'm focused on the small group of people coming toward me from the city, most of whom were wearing (oddly enough) togas. I slowed my pace down to a walk so they didn't think I was attacking, and looked back to see Piper, Jason, Leo, Grover, and a handful of Hephaestus kids from the ship jogging to catch up to me.

Jason was looking around with a reminiscent, happy look on his face, like he couldn't really believe he was finally home. Piper and Leo both looked awed, not that I blamed them. Even from a few hundred feet in the air I could already tell that the architecture around here was amazing, but I didn't have time to think about support structures and angles at that moment. Grover looked nervous and was chewing on his reed pipes, however that was normal. Leo's siblings seemed cautious and wary, but not worried necessarily – yet.

I turned back to see the group was only about two or three yards away. A girl with long dark hair in a toga stepped forward, and opened her mouth to say something, probably ask what we were doing here. Before she could though, I saw him. And he saw me.

I'd been dreading this moment for months now, ever since I found out that Hera had messed with Percy's memories like she did with Jason's. I couldn't help overanalyzing the situation from every angle, with one main worry always coming back to the forefront of my battle strategizing mind: What if he doesn't remember me?

In that instant, my worry was gone, like it never even existed. Because Percy looked at me, and I just knew that he remembered. He charged forward at the same moment that I did, and then I was in his arms and for several moments, nothing else mattered.

I clung to him desperately, afraid that he'd evaporate into thin air if I relinquished my hold for even a moment. He seemed to be on the same wavelength as me – never thought I'd say that – because he didn't let up on his hold either.

Percy turned his head into my neck and nuzzled me, kissing the hollow behind my ear gently, "Gods, Annabeth, I missed you so much." He murmured the words against my skin, the sensation igniting ever nerve ending in my body.

"Percy," I breathed. I know, I know! I must have sounded like such a romantic sap, but I couldn't help it. I'd been waiting for this moment for an eternity. "You remember," I said brilliantly.

I really wanted to be questioning him fully, to find out exactly how much he remembered. I wanted to know how much Hera took, so I could kick her godly behind for every neuron she fried in his kelp-filled head. I wanted to yell at him for being gone so long without trying to contact me somehow and for worrying his mom and stepdad sick.

I know the last one's not really fair, but I still wanted to do it.

Percy leaned back and smiled at me cutely, melting my heart. His sea-green eyes twinkled with both mischief and love. "How could I forget you, Wise Girl?"

Yep, that's my Percy. I grinned and kissed him on the lips, and thank the gods he kissed me right back.

I'm not really sure how long we were standing there like that, when suddenly a girl's voice off to my right interrupted my concentration; which was a pretty hard thing to do to a daughter of Athena.

"Aw, that is so sweet!"

I looked up to see a small girl of maybe thirteen, with cocoa skin and curly dark hair, who smiled at me in a friendly manner. I wasn't sure what was more surprising – her New Orleans accent, the red toga she was wearing, or her gold colored eyes. I'd never seen a demigod with gold eyes – not even Piper or her sibling's eyes changed to that color.

"Um, and you are?" I asked. I kept my arms around Percy's neck possessively. Hey, when your boyfriend falls off the face of the earth for nearly a year, I'd like to see you not get a little clingy.

Percy chuckled, "easy, Annabeth, she's a friend. This is Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small sapphire poke through the ground at Hazel's feet, almost like how a flower would pop up in the spring. Hazel didn't seem fazed by the precious gem, like this sort of thing happened a lot. She picked up the sapphire and put it in a pocket of her toga. Hmm, togas with pockets – what will they think of next?

"It's nice to have a face to put with a name. Percy's talked about you constantly in the past week. It was beginning to get annoying," Hazel grinned and winked. Call me crazy, but I think I liked this girl.

Percy rolled his eyes, "Ha ha, Hazel, very funny."

"I thought it was," the tall Chinese boy next to Hazel chimed in with a suppressed laugh. He was at least half a foot taller than Percy, which only seemed to dwarf Hazel's size even more, and he was built like a football player – big. His physical appearance reminded me of the Ares kids back at camp, but the open smile ruined the image.

"Seriously, I don't know why you guys don't go on the road. You'd make a killing," Percy told him with a deadpan expression. Gods I've missed his sarcasm. "Anyway, Annabeth, this is Frank Zhang, son of Mars. He and Hazel have probably saved my butt about a dozen times this past week."

I smiled. "Well then I guess a thank you is in order. I would've been mad if I got here and all that was left of Percy was a pile of seaweed where his brain used to be."

"Hey!" Percy protested indignantly. I laughed and kissed his cheek. He smiled and looked relatively appeased.

Suddenly, something occurred to me. "Wait, 'this past week'? How long have you been here at Camp Jupiter? You've been missing for nine months back in New York."

Percy frowned and sighed, rubbing his neck. "Yeah… about that? Uh…"

I looked around at the rest of the group of people from New Rome, noticing someone was missing. "Percy? Where's Nico? I got a message from him a few days ago, confirming you were here."

Percy winced. "Well, he was here, but he's missing now."

"What do you mean, 'missing'?" I asked anxiously.

Hazel answered my question, her gold eyes sad. "He was taken captive by the giants. We think they're going to use him to raise more villains from the Underworld."

I frowned. "You're a child of the god of the Underworld too, though. Why didn't they take you?"

Hazel looked down uncomfortably. "Nico and I share the same father, but not the same powers."

She didn't elaborate, but as I thought about the jewels that had popped up around her, it suddenly clicked. In Greece, Hades was just the god of the Underworld and Lord of the dead. In Rome, however, as Pluto he also became the god of riches and wealth.

I got the feeling from Hazel's vague answer that few people knew what her powers entailed. I gave her a reassuring smile – I wouldn't be telling anyone without her permission. Hazel smiled back, looking relieved.

Getting back to the problem at hand, I sighed. "I hope Nico won't be tempted to work for Gaea."

Hazel shook her head. "Nico's a lot of things, but he's not a traitor."

Percy rolled his eyes and snorted. Hazel, Frank and I looked at him questioningly. "Okay, so he wouldn't join Gaea, but I'm still pissed he didn't tell me who I was when he saw me here!"

"Percy, he probably realized that you'd lost your memories for a reason, and didn't want to screw something up," I reasoned.

Percy agreed with me reluctantly, but still grumbled under his breath, "Remind me to throttle, stab, and then drowned him in the River Styx after we save his sorry ass," he muttered to me. I bit back a smile at that. Still the same violent boy I met in sixth grade. At least some things never change.

"Hey, Hazel, good to see you again," Jason said, walking up with Piper, Leo, Grover, the familiar looking black haired girl, and a skinny blonde kid with a crazed look in his eyes.

Hazel gave him a sisterly hug. "You're a sight for sore eyes yourself. Good to have you back."

I saw that Leo's siblings had returned to the ship, either to work on a few kinks we'd encountered with the engine, or to guard it from curious Romans – probably both. All the older men who'd been with the group had dispersed; maybe they were late for a toga party.

"Peerrrcy!" Grover suddenly bleated, tackling his best friend to the ground in a hug.

Percy laughed, "Hey man, watch the ribs! I've missed you too, Grover."

"Percy, we've been so worried. I kept trying every tracking spell I knew, and our empathy link, but nothing worked! I was worried you were – that you might be…" Grover blubbered, starting to tear up.

"Hey, easy! I'm fine G-man, really. See? Look at me, I'm totally cool," Percy said, trying to calm the satyr down.

Grover sniffed and nodded, wiping his eyes. "Right, of course."

"Um… Grover?"

"Yeah?"

"…Can you get off me now?"

Grover blushed. "Oh! Right, sorry! Here, let me help you." He pulled Percy to his feet, looking embarrassed.

"Who's the faun?" The familiar black haired girl asked Jason, "and why is he so emotional?"

Grover glared at her. "I'm not a faun! I'm a satyr! …And I am not emotional!"

I didn't have the heart to say anything.

Percy tilted his head to the side thoughtfully, staring at the son of Jupiter. "You must be Jason." He stuck out his hand for a shake. "Nice to meet a fellow kid of the Big Three. You're quite the legend around here."

Jason took Percy's hand in a firm grasp. "Same. I have to say you're just as much, if not more, of a legend at Camp Half-Blood."

Percy blushed, rubbing his neck. "Yeah, well, I try."

"So there is a Greek demigod camp? Ha! I knew it!" The blonde kid crowed triumphantly. He shook his fist in the air, drawing attention to the butcher's knife he was clutching, along with the shredded remains of a stuffed duck toy.

I leaned towards Percy, warily keeping my eyes glued to the blonde. "Who's the serial killer in training?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "That's Octavian, the camp's augur. He's Camp Jupiter's equivalent to Rachel Dare, just a whole lot weirder and not as reliable. Just don't tell him I said that," he replied lowly. "And whatever you do, don't provoke him. He's convinced that the Greek demigods are going to declare war on the Roman demigods, and that Camp Jupiter should strike first before it can happen."

"You think he's going to use this as an opening," I stated in a mutter only loud enough for my boyfriend's ears.

Percy gave me a look that I'd know anywhere. It plainly read, _duh._ Great, all we needed was something else to worry about. Like the fate of Western Civilization wasn't enough of a burden.

"We just said that, yes," Piper replied, rolling her eyes at Octavian. Obviously she found him really disturbing as well, from the way she kept a hand on her dagger and stayed close to Jason's side.

"Then it's also true that the Greeks are hoping to make a comeback? They want to take down Rome while we're still weak from battle! I told you, Reyna!" Octavian declared, pointing his knife at Leo threateningly.

Leo calmly pulled a huge hammer out of his tool belt and hefted it in his hands. Smart boy. "Seriously, dude, you need to chill. No one's here to attack anyone. We're just here to pick up Percy and whoever else is going on the quest with us."

"And you are?" Percy asked blankly.

"Oops. Sorry, my bad. Percy this is Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite," I said as Percy shook Piper's hand.

"McLean?" Percy asked tilting his head like the name rang a bell… which it probably did.

Piper blushed slightly, "Don't ask."

"And this is Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus," I continued to save Piper from an extra embarrassment. "They're both head counselors of their cabins, and they went with Jason to free Hera when she was kidnapped nine months ago."

Percy frowned. "Hera was kidnapped?" But before I could explain, he asked another question. "Wait a second, they're head counselors? I can see Jake stepping down – he didn't even want the job – but Drew? I thought she loved being in charge. I didn't think that she could be challenged with that Charmspeak of hers."

Piper smirked, "Let's just say I can be very persuasive myself." She winked and then giggled at his confused look.

Percy wisely held back the question that was burning in his eyes. He shook his head. "Anyway… you said you came to get me and pick up the other demigods for a quest? You mean?" He didn't finish, but he didn't have to.

"The quest of the seven is here, Percy," I said quietly, "so much for not seeing it in our lifetime, huh?"

"You can say that again," he muttered and sighed. "I suspected as much. Well, I can tell you I already know who the last two are." He pointed to Hazel and Frank, who looked grim, but ready.

"Hold it! Hold it!" The black haired girl, Reyna I think, held up her hands impatiently. "You guys can't just leave! Jason just got back, and Percy, you were just elected praetor. We need you both!"

Jason frowned. "Praetor? Percy? But, how…?"

Reyna looked apologetic, "The Feast of Fortuna, Jason. We needed a second praetor, and well, with Percy's triumph in the battle yesterday…"

"Okay, that's the second time someone has mentioned a battle," Leo interrupted. "Does anyone care to explain that?"

"Maybe we should discuss this somewhere more private?" Jason suggested.

"Agreed," Reyna replied, looking relieved. "The senate hall is empty right now, let's head there."

"Senate hall?" I asked, glancing at Percy. He grinned at the excited look that must've been in my grey eyes.

"You're going to love this place – there's even a Coliseum," Percy said. Have I mentioned how much I love this guy? He knows my weaknesses all too well.

"I don't suppose we could, maybe, take a tour once things are settled and before we have to leave? A quick one? Please?" I said my eyes pleading as I gave my boyfriend my most winning smile.

Percy pretended to think it over for a moment. "Well… I guess saving the gods could wait long enough for us to take a quick run around the city and camp." He winked at me and I grinned, giving him a quick kiss. Seriously, I love this boy!

"Sheesh, get a room why don't you?" Leo muttered. I shot him a rude gesture from Ancient Greece, making Piper laugh.

That settled, Jason, Reyna and Percy took the lead showing us through the city to the senate house. Percy held my hand tightly, rubbing my palm with his thumb, and I smiled, ridiculously happy to be reunited with my boyfriend.

Behind me, I could hear Leo, Piper, and Grover getting to know Hazel and Frank. Octavian was hanging out in the back of the group, apparently sizing up the situation with cold, calculating blue eyes. I'd have to keep a close eye on him – I knew trouble when I saw it, and this kid fairly reeked of it.

Percy caught my eye as I was looking over my shoulder.

He mouthed, 'you okay?'

I smiled back and nodded, 'perfect'.

He matched my smile, putting his arm around my shoulders. I leaned into him as we walked along. I noticed out of the corner of my vision the frown Reyna was wearing, and how she glanced back and forth between Percy and Jason who was answering Piper's question about something. Something told me this was going to be a long day…


	2. Chapter 2

_First of all, let me just say: WOW! The response I've gotten to this fic is overwhelming! I have never received such an incredible response to any story before like I have with this one. I've written stories for Hardy Boys for several years now, even did a one-shot for The Faerie Path, and I had assumed from the lack of reviews that I wasn't very good at this, or that just no one was interested in my work. You guys have definitely given me a morale boost! :D Thank you, thank you, thank you!_

_I've received a lot of reviews for this, and have made an effort to respond to each one. As some of you left anonymous reviews – which is totally cool and I'm grateful for them just as much as signed ones – I'd like to take a quick moment to answer them here, to let you guys know that I am paying attention and that I value every single one so much B-) :D_

_Satyr in training: I can't stand cliffhangers either. So glad you liked it, thank you! :)_

_Mrscedwardpattinson: Thank you very much! You're getting more of it – see, right down there? There's more ^_^_

_(No name provided): Wow, that's such a sweet compliment, thank you! I have decided to continue – your wish is my command ;)_

_Lubi: Glad you don't think it's sappy and that you like it so much. Thanks so much!_

_Huff the Puff: You've probably submitted the longest review, and I'm happy you had so much to say. :) Thanks for the constructive criticism, I do appreciate that. I had sort of forgotten about the Hazel/Leo problem, but I will address it in this chapter. Don't worry, Octavian will play a large bit in this story – I can't leave the crazy kid alone. Although I honestly don't think I love him very much… more like, he's a great character that I want to punch :p I think Percy's violent streak is rubbing off on me ;) I'm probably going to stick to first-person pov, just because I like it so much, but I may switch to different characters in a couple of chapters. I fell in love with first-person in the POJ series before the Heroes series even came out, and I think I'm going to stick to it :) Thanks again for your comments and thoughts, they're definitely welcome._

_Okay, now that that's taken care of, let's move on with the story, hmm? Once more, thanks for the reviews, hits, faves, and alerts – you guys are awesome :D Onward!_

**That's my Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter 2**

Walking through New Rome was absolutely incredible! The streets were gleaming cobble stone, like they'd just been laid down a week ago, the marble columns were pristine white, and I couldn't believe the sites I was seeing aside from the architecture. The city was filled with people – little kids, college kids, teenagers, middle aged couples walking hand-in-hand, and elderly people sitting at cafes drinking coffee.

"Percy, who are all these people?" I asked.

Percy got an excited look in his eyes – the kind of expression he'd wear whenever he found out his mom had just baked a fresh batch of blue chocolate-chip cookies. "They're demigods, Annabeth."

"Demigods? But, I mean, they're…" I trailed off, glancing around again as I held back from finishing the sentence.

I didn't want to offend any of these people, but as far as I knew, very few demigods survived adolescence to have kids of their own – especially if they had a strong aura. There just weren't any safe places for us in the mortal world. We were constantly hounded by monsters our whole lives. These people looked happy and worry-free, like they'd never lifted a sword in their lives.

"Older?" Percy guessed.

I nodded.

"That's the amazing thing. Annabeth, these people, after they've fought monsters for Camp Jupiter for a couple of years, they can come here to New Rome; retire, sort of. They're protected here. No monsters, no worries. They can finish school, get a job, build a life, and raise a family. This place," his voice had gone soft, only loud enough for me to hear if I leaned in close. "This place is a safe haven for demigods."

I frowned. "So is Camp Half-Blood," I protested, feeling the need to defend our camp.

"I know that," he said quickly, obviously trying not to offend me. "But, you can't stay at Half-Blood Hill your whole life – not really. Eventually, you have to face the mortal world. It's not always safe for us. Especially if…" his voice trailed off and he looked away.

I stopped us in front of a small grocery store, the others getting ahead of us. "If what, Percy?"

Percy looked down at our joined hands, cradling my palms delicately as he stood thinking in silence. Something was up with him. I'd never seen him so serious – not since the battle in Manhattan when we'd fought Kronos' army. "What's wrong, Seaweed Brain?" I asked gently.

Percy gave a half chuckle, half sigh. "Nothing's wrong, really… I've just been thinking a lot."

"What about?" I furrowed my brow, and tilted his face up. His green eyes met my grey ones, and we stood staring at each other for a long time. Just when I though he was finally going to say something, Leo appeared at our side.

"Are you guys coming?" The son of Hephaestus asked impatiently. I love Leo like a brother, but seriously, the guy had terrible people skills and he lacked I-just-walked-in-on-a-private-moment radar.

Hazel was right behind him, but she hesitated before approaching us. "Percy, Annabeth – Reyna and Octavian are getting restless. Can you hurry, please?"

I noticed that the New Orleans girl was sickly pale, and she eyed Leo apprehensively. I found that odd – most girls just looked at Leo like he was an annoying pest – but Hazel looked at him like she was seeing a ghost. Huh, a daughter of Pluto seeing a ghost… oh, _vacas_, now I'm beginning to sound like Percy.

"We're coming," I told them. I looked back at Percy, barely catching the annoyed frown on his face. It was gone half a second later and he gave me a warm smile, however he couldn't hide the tightness that was now around his eyes.

I tried to shrug it off for the moment. I didn't have time to worry about it as he put his arm around my shoulders, and we walked together behind Leo and Hazel to the Senate House. I noticed that Hazel was going at a fast clip ahead of Leo – like she was trying to avoid him – and I suspected the only reason she hadn't broken into a full out run was because the toga would've sent her flat on her face.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked.

Percy shrugged, but there was something in his face that hinted he knew the problem. "Got me. Leo seems a little odd, and he lacks tact, but he seems like a nice kid. He reminds me of Beckendorf in a way." The latter part of his sentence was a little wistful.

"How much do you remember about him?" I asked. What I really wanted to ask was how much did he remember about _everything_. Unfortunately we didn't have that kind of time at the moment. We were already walking up the steps of the Senate.

"I remember that if it weren't for me, he'd probably still be alive," He said, his tone dark.

I touched his cheek gently. He turned to me and I could see the pain in his expression. It was just as raw and open as it had been on that fateful morning when he'd dragged himself out of the ocean on the shores of camp, bearing the heavy news of the first casualty of the Titan War.

"It wasn't your fault – you said so yourself," I said softly. "You tried but you couldn't save him. If you hadn't pulled out when you did, both of you would've gone to the Underworld. I had to save your sorry butt from that place once – I would've killed you a second time if you made me do it again."

Percy gave a weak chuckle. "The scary part is I know you'd hold me to that."

"You know it!" I teased.

We stopped in front of the giant double doors and I felt a tiny bit of unease run through Percy. "Do you think we can do this? If the seven fail – if we can't get along..." he didn't have to finish. If we failed, the world would fall to the giants and we'd all be killed off. That is if we didn't kill each other first.

I gripped his hand tighter. "If we don't at least try, we definitely won't win. I know our odds aren't great –"

"You think?"

"But there's a chance – a slim one, granted – but a chance nonetheless. We've got to take it. Besides," I smiled covertly, "we have a couple of secret weapons on our side."

Percy seemed to think that over for a moment before he smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I guess we do. Okay," he sighed and frowned at the doors, like he was daring them to deny him access.

"Let's do this."

POJxPOJxPOJ

"Hold on! Back up!" Reyna shouted, but it was no use. The argument being fought currently was so loud, I had a feeling the residents in the Underworld could hear us. It didn't help that the big, round Senate room was a perfect amplifier.

Percy, Jason and Octavian were at each other's throats – literally. My boyfriend was _this close_ to grabbing Riptide (even though the pen was back with Terminus), Jason was fiddling with his jeans right where his gladius would hang, and Octavian was clutching his ceremonial knife.

I didn't get how he could come into the city with that thing, when the rest of us had to give up our weapons, but I guess he'd need it in case he had to 'read the will of the gods' or whatever it is he did. It didn't reassure me. No matter how long it had been since someone got assassinated Cesar style in here.

Hazel was avoiding Leo like the plague, making Frank glare at the grease monkey vehemently. Leo was trying to apologize for whatever he did wrong, while Piper and Reyna yelled at each other about something or other. I was sitting back and watching everything happen with a kind of resigned dread building in my stomach.

Tyson, Mrs. O'Leary and a small, flighty (no pun intended) harpy named Ella sat in the back of the room. They watched the fighting the same way someone would watch a tennis match – or a Greek tragedy. I was just waiting for the blood to start spilling at this point, and absently wondering if we would have enough ambrosia.

This was what Percy was worried about – more to the point this is what many of the gods, minor gods, spirits and others had been warning us about. I remembered the words Boreas had spoken to Jason, Leo and Piper on their quest: _'You will tear each other a part.'_ I hated to say it, but it looked like he was right. Hera was nuts if she thought this could somehow work.

Suddenly, Piper, looking absolutely fed up with the pointless quarreling, stood up on top of one of the chairs in the middle of the hall. She put her fingers to her lips and gave a loud, long, shrill whistle. Most of us covered our ears, cringing at the horrible sound. Mrs. O'Leary whimpered and covered her face with her large paws.

Finally, the torture ended. Piper removed her fingers once she was sure she had our attention.

"Thank you! Now, can we please quit arguing and talk to each other like civilized people?" I could tell Piper was putting a good bit of power into her words, and even I found myself nodding contritely, even though I hadn't been involved in the arguing.

Percy shook his head slightly, looking dazed. He glanced over at me, mouthing 'how did she do that?' I smirked, letting him know I'd fill him in later.

"Okay, now that we've stopped being barbarians, let's cut to the chase, shall we? The quest of the seven – as it has been nicknamed – is now here, and the seven are currently in this room. We are the seven demigods who will defeat the giant's army and lull Gaea back to sleep, and if we don't succeed, the world as we know it will end," Piper said and the tone in her voice demanded respect even without Charmspeak.

"As far as we can tell, and we're ninety-eight percent sure, the seven include Jason Grace…" Jason stood a little taller, reminding me of a soldier coming to attention. He really was a child of Rome.

"Leo Valdez…" By contrast to Jason, Leo grinned and bowed; I noted out of the corner of my eye, that Hazel cringed at his last name, only adding to my puzzlement.

"Frank Zhang…" Frank looked grim and ready, gripping a bow and quiver of arrows that were slung over his back. Without the smile on his face, his ancestry suddenly made sense. The reason why he resembled Clairese so much was because they were basically brother and sister, even if their father had been in different forms at the time.

"Hazel Levesque…" Hazel swallowed, but stood up next to her boyfriend. The friendly cheerfulness that had been in her demeanor earlier was gone, replaced by a tired, world-weary expression. For some reason, it reminded me of Nico de Angelo, but then I shook my head. Of course Hazel and Nico were similar they were both children of the god of the Underworld. I was just being overly suspicious.

"Percy Jackson…" Percy smiled with a grim sort of cheer. He winked at me, like he was saying _'on the frontlines again – am I ever gonna get to sit out a war?'_ I had to say, standing in that dark purple toga with the white tunic underneath, and wearing that content but battle ready expression, he looked as handsome and brave as the original Perseus must have before going off to slay Medusa or another monster.

"Annabeth Chase…" I stood up with the rest of the seven, determined to look brave, even if I didn't necessarily feel it. I was as nervous as the rest probably were, but for the sake of the gods and all of Western Civilization, I would tough it out. By the power of Athena I'd fight to my last breath to save this world. That's what being a demigod meant.

"And Piper McLean… that's me," Piper smirked as she jumped off the seat and put her hands on her hips, "any questions?"

"Let me get this straight," Octavian began, looking like he was humoring a small child throwing a tantrum. I imagined that he was probably on the debate team in high school; he just looked so at home on the Senate floor. Totally in his element. It kind of scared me. "A son of Jupiter, a son of Mars, a daughter of Pluto, a son of Neptune –"

"Poseidon!" Percy corrected sharply. Apparently that had been a sore subject between the two.

Octavian rolled his eyes. "Whatever! So a son of _Poseidon_, a son of Vul – excuse me – _Hephaestus_…" Leo glared but didn't respond. "And a daughter of Athena and one of Aphrodite are going to slay an army of giants, plus any other monsters with them, all by themselves? And on that, hunk of _junk_ they sailed here in? Reyna, come on!"

Jason and Percy had to hold Leo back from punching Octavian's face in over that one. I didn't blame the kid. The _Argo II _was a good ship… even if it did have a dragon for a mast head.

I took a quick peek at Reyna's face, which was impassive. She wasn't yet passing judgment while still evaluating the arguments that had been laid out. Obviously, whether we left this camp peacefully and unharmed all depended on Reyna's decision as praetor.

As I stared at her, the more I got the feeling that I'd seen Reyna somewhere before, I just couldn't place where. Something about the calculating look in her face, the long black hair, her eyes, something about her was niggling something in the back of my mind. Something about a girl helping to clean and braid my hair after a long sea voyage, while Percy was with…

"Oh my gods!" I shrieked. "You were on Circe's Island! You were helping her – you almost got us killed." I pointed at Reyna accusingly, grabbing my dagger… which unfortunately wasn't there. Okay, fine, I could fight hand-to-hand well enough. Just as long as I got to bash Reyna's face in.

Reyna scowled at me. "And you unleashed Blackbeard the pirate and his crew who took my sister and I captive! You destroyed our home on the island, and if it hadn't been for you, my sister and I wouldn't have lost contact for four years."

"Circe turned my boyfriend into a guinea pig!" I exclaimed in exasperation.

Percy blushed as several of the others started snickering. "You had to tell everyone? I would've preferred forgetting _that_ particular memory!" He muttered. He shook himself from the mental image as he stepped between us. "Annabeth, please calm down."

"Calm down? We nearly got killed on that island! If I hadn't had those vitamins Hermes gave us, I would be dead, and you would be eating carrots fed to you by a fifth grade class for the rest of your life." I seethed, glaring at Reyna.

Reyna sneered back. "Maybe that would've been best for all of us."

I lunged.

Percy caught me and held tight. "Lemme go!" I screamed.

I was so angry I was seeing red. The only other time I remember ever being this angry was when a demigod – a son of Nemesis – under Kronos' control had almost stabbed Percy in his 'Achilles heel' in battle. A blow to that one spot would've killed him. I'd jumped in the way of the sword that time; now I was ready to pulverize this chick. Nobody messed with my boyfriend and got away with it.

Reyna stalked angrily towards us. Jason quickly intercepted her in a strong bear hug from behind like Percy had done with me. "Reyna! Let it go – it was a long time ago. It doesn't matter anymore. Just let it go!"

"No, I won't!" Reyna shouted, thrashing around.

"CHILL OUT!" Piper suddenly shouted. The command was so strong, I actually felt a coldness creep up my spine as I stopped struggling. Reyna, too, quit fighting.

Piper looked pissed. I wasn't sure if it was because we started fighting again, or because of the close proximity between Jason and Reyna. "I want everyone to calm down, take a step back, and breathe – okay? No fighting! I mean it. If someone pulls another weapon out, unless a gorgon is breaking down the door, I will make your lives miserable in ways you can't even imagine. Got it?"

Everyone nodded. Not even Octavian looked like he wanted to argue. Percy and Jason reluctantly released Reyna and I.

I faced the Roman girl, meeting her gaze. I could still see resentment in her eyes, as I'm sure it was in mine. After a short stare down, we came to a silent agreement.

This wasn't helping anything. If we wanted to save the world, we had to get along and put aside our personal differences – no matter how deeply those feelings were. We were both daughters of battle strategy; we knew what had to happen. We couldn't expect the other demigods to get along if two of their leaders couldn't.

I stuck out my hand, "Truce?"

She sighed, frowning.

I waited.

She took my hand, "Truce."

"Was that so hard?" Percy asked quietly when I stepped back to his side. I gritted my teeth. He knew pride was my fatal weakness, just as I knew his was loyalty. That didn't mean I threw it in _his_ face all the time. I glared at him, which wiped the smile off his face pretty fast.

Octavian – apparently he had recovered his nerve after being Piper-a-fied – decided to use this almost cat fight to his advantage. "Do you see? How can you guys possibly save the world when you can't keep from killing each other before you've even left?"

"In Annabeth's defense," Piper said, "Reyna isn't on the quest, so it doesn't count." I smiled to myself. Child of Aphrodite or not, Piper was a seriously cool girl.

"Regardless," Octavian continued, as if brushing the interjection aside as unimportant. "Romans and Greeks aren't ever supposed to mix – not in ancient times and not now. We don't get along." His voice was so dire, so stern, I almost felt ashamed for even thinking about the idea.

Almost… I knew better though. Athena kids were pretty good debaters themselves. We were the descendants of the greatest strategist of all time after all.

"And why is that?" Piper asked, stepping onto the floor figuratively against Octavian.

I tried to hold in a grin. This would be good.

"Why aren't we supposed to mix? Why must we be separated? Why are we enemies? Because of a stupid decree by the gods? That's a pathetic excuse," Piper said. I couldn't even tell if she had used Charmspeak in her voice, but she was convincing either way. "Especially since the Queen of the Heavens has issued this quest herself. Hera, Juno, whatever you want to call her, she gave us this task. If we fail her, we fail the whole world."

Piper paused to let that sink in. She spoke up again before Octavian could cut off her train of thought. She was obviously on a roll. "The Prophecy of the Seven says, and I quote, '_Seven demigods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall. An oath to keep with a final breath. And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death'. _Seven it said, and seven we are. We've been drawn together from all different walks of life. Some of us have proven that we're heroes, even great leaders…"

Jason and Percy exchanged glances.

"Some of us are still new at this…" Piper and Leo swapped rueful grins.

"And all of us have moments where we doubt ourselves and our abilities…"

I saw Frank and Hazel grasp hands. A moment later, Percy put his arm around my shoulders and I sighed. Piper was definitely right about that one.

"But one thing is clear," Piper continued. "We are the seven, and we are destined to undertake this quest. Whether we win or fail, that's something that only the Fates know. But we've got to try, and if the gods are with us – Roman and Greek – we will succeed."

There was a long silence after that. Octavian looked like he was scrambling for a new line of reasoning to dissuade Reyna from agreeing with us. Evidently he was coming up empty. "Reyna – you, you can't really – I mean, this is ridiculous! They'll never succeed!"

Reyna frowned at him. "When has Rome ever backed down from a challenge just because there was a chance we wouldn't succeed?"

Octavian winced. The praetor had struck a nerve. "But, Reyna –?"

"Enough Octavian!" Reyna snapped. "This debate is over. I've made my decision."

We all held our breath.

"We managed to get along without a second praetor for nine months," She said, and I wondered why she wouldn't meet Jason's eyes. "We can wait a few more months to get either Jason or Percy back. If this quest doesn't happen, it won't matter if we have two praetors or not. Unopposed, the giants will destroy the gods and all of Western Civilization. If the torch is put out, demigods will be the first to be hunted down and slaughtered."

Reyna looked up at each of us. I noticed her gaze lingered for a moment longer on first Jason's then Percy's faces. She stopped at me, frowning slightly for a millisecond, and then it was gone. "You all have my permission to leave Camp Jupiter. No one will attack your ship either when you leave here, or when you return."

I was glad she said 'when' instead of 'if'; that made me feel a little better.

"When will you leave?" Reyna asked.

"We can leave as early as tomorrow morning," Leo replied.

The praetor nodded. "Then I offer you all accommodations for the night. Any supplies you need before you leave are also yours to take: weapons, provisions, whatever. Dinner should be in an hour. You're free to explore camp and New Rome as you wish until then. This meeting is adjourned."

Reyna stood, nodded to us stiffly and left, Octavian following after her with a scowl on his face. Obviously, the augur didn't think the meeting was adjourned yet.

Jason watched her leave with a pained expression on his face. I felt bad for the guy. He and Piper clearly had feelings for each other, but there must've still been a part of him that remembered he had almost had something with Reyna. Selfish as it sounded, I was thankful that while Percy had been gone he hadn't fallen in love with anyone else.

Piper walked over to the blonde boy and gave his shoulder a light push. "Go," she said softly. Jason gave her a questioning look. "You need to talk to her. It'll be good for both of you. You need to clear the air. Go," she smiled, but I could tell it was forced.

Jason grinned and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Pipes, you're the best!" He ran off after Reyna, and Piper sighed once he was out of sight. Leo came over and put his hand on her shoulder, trying to make her feel better. It didn't seem like it was working.

I looked from Piper and Leo, to Hazel who was in the middle of hastening out the door before anyone saw her. Frank followed her quickly, looking concerned.

Percy must've sensed how tense I'd become, because he pulled me into a hug and kissed my hair. "It'll all work out, you'll see," he murmured.

I sighed. "I hope you're right."

I had a feeling that if we all didn't get eaten by giants, we would end up killing each other first. Why did I sign up for this quest again? I was a daughter of wisdom, and this sure was turning into an unwise decision pretty fast. Athena, help us all…

_Edit 10/31/11: Okay, okay, I admit it, this is the second time I had to edit this because I missed where I still had Nico hanging around, and as it has been pointed out to me several times now, he's not here at the moment. Sorry about the inconsistency – I really tried hard to find all the mistakes the last time, but hey, who's perfect right? Nobody, not even the gods according to R.R.! So there! :p Anyway, thanks again for reading and please review!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Good day to you all, fellow authors and writers! :) I first have to say, thank you again for all the great reviews (17 now), as well as those who have put me on their alert (24) and favorite (30) lists – that really makes my day B-). Also, I wanted to tell you that this story has officially hit an all time record of hits and visits out of all my stories in such a short period of time – over 1,800! WOW! :D Thank you for your support of this still fledging story! Before we get on to the next chapter, let me quickly respond to my anonymous reviewers:_

_Zoegurl: Well, I think that the Hardy Boys are still cool (not blockbuster-cool at this point, but still…) but I agree, PJO and HoO are probably more popular right now *grumbles half-heartedly under breath that PJO hasn't been around since the 1920's, so _there! _The Hardy's still have that* :p;) Thank you very much – I try to keep the characters as realistic as possible; I hate it when they suddenly become so OOC that I can't even recognize them anymore in some stories. ;) Thanks for your review!_

_Lubi: Aww, you're sweet :) *blush* Thank you!_

_Mrscedwardpattinson: Lol you're wish is my command :D ;) aww, thanks! Long live Percabeth! ;) B-)_

_One final note is I switch to a few different pov's in this fic – still in first person, but different people. Alright, let's get back to the action! :D Onward!_

_Edit: 10/24/11 – A couple of astute reviewers have pointed out some inconsistencies I missed when editing before I posted. These problems have been corrected. The chapter is mostly the same, but there's a lot of new stuff I added at the end. Thanks for reading._

**That's My Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter 3**

_Annabeth_

Percy led me to Camp Jupiter to the First Legion's quarters so he could change out of his toga. I teased him that maybe we ought to hang on to it – it did look like it would make a comfy blanket. He only rolled his eyes and retorted with a sarcastic laugh. He couldn't hide his blush though.

Once we left the barracks, he took me around the camp, showing me the armory (Clairese would've loved this place), the stables (not as many pegasi here as there were back in Camp Half-Blood), and to a couple of different temples set up for the Roman gods (their shrine to Minerva was pretty cool… not enough books though).

We were soon at the bottom of a large hill, at the top of which was a round temple-like building that had storm clouds swirling around it, when suddenly Percy stopped his guided tour and stood dead still.

"What is it?" I asked worriedly. I didn't like how pale his normally tan face had suddenly gone.

Instead of answering, Percy detached his hand from mine and walked over to a small, dilapidated temple that obviously hadn't been used or repaired in quite awhile. It almost reminded me of what the Hermes cabin looked like before we rebuilt camp and gave it a makeover.

I followed him inside the temple, wondering what on earth had made him so sad. Suddenly I saw the faded trident symbol hanging above a tall statue of a regal looking god with striking, familiar features and sea green eyes. The statue was dirty and a part of the god's toga had cracked off. An altar holding stale water and rotten apples stood at the statue's feet.

Oh… that's why. My many studious years in mythology at camp and history classes in the mortal world kicked in as I remembered that the Romans feared the sea with a passion. In other words, Neptune wasn't very high on their Christmas lists.

Percy looked at the pathetic excuse of a shrine with a sad expression. He knelt for a moment, eyes closed in prayer. I half hoped that Poseidon would answer his son, but there was no change. There was no flash of light. No fresh ocean breeze flowed through the musty air of the temple. Nothing.

My best friend of five years sighed and opened his eyes as he stood. "I know Olympus is closed, but I just wish he would – that he'd given me…" he trailed off.

"Some sign that he was still here, watching over you," I finished quietly. Percy turned and met my gaze, his expression bleak. My heart nearly broke in half at the hopelessness I saw in his eyes.

"Oh Seaweed Brain…" I shook my head and pulled him into a hug. He held me tightly. No tears came from him, I would've been surprised if they had, but I could still feel how miserable he was from the stiffness of his strong shoulders.

He pulled back first, holding my shoulders. After so many years of me being taller, now I had to look up to him. It was strange how things like that change with the passage of time.

"Annabeth, we can only beat the giants with the help of the gods. If my own father won't answer my prayer, how do we know they'll help when it really counts? I had to defeat a giant yesterday with the help of the god of borders in the form of a marble bust!"

Even though I knew it wasn't the right time, I couldn't help laughing a little. Percy was just so cute when he got frustrated. He glared at me in annoyance. "You're laughing at me!"

"No, I'm not," I said once I could breathe. "Just your face." I smirked at his murderous expression.

"This is serious Annabeth," he said sternly and I sobered immediately.

"I know it is. Believe me I've been trying to find a way to get the gods' attention for days now." I looked down uncomfortably. "Not even my mom is listening to me," I admitted faintly.

His face softened instantly, "I'm sorry." He sighed, "I'm just frustrated. I don't know what to do. Everyone keeps looking at me and Jason like we're supposed to know what we're doing, when I feel like we're guiding these kids off a cliff. Piper said so herself, we're leading the quest. I don't know about Jason, but I sure as Hades have no idea what I'm doing." He ran his hand through his dark hair, messing it up even more than usual.

I smiled gently and pulled his hands down before he pulled all his hair out. That would just be a shame. "If it makes you feel better, Jason feels the same way. He wasn't always the hero everyone says he is. He started out on shaky ground too. Fifth cohort – from what I hear that's not exactly top of the food chain – and he didn't have many friends. Sound familiar?"

Percy snorted and rolled his eyes. "Undetermined camper, sucked at everything but canoeing, and wasn't half-bad with a sword. Didn't really fit in with the others, especially after that first game of capture the flag… yeah, I know the feeling."

"So you see? You're not alone. You and Jason both had rocky starts, but now both of you are considered heroes, true leaders among demigods – either Roman or Greek." I cupped his face in my hand, "You can do this. We just need to stick together. We're going to succeed, and we're going to get the gods' support when we confront the giants and Gaea. They won't be able to ignore us then."

Percy half smiled and glanced back at the statue of Neptune – Poseidon, whatever you wanted to call him. His expression dampened slightly. "I sure hope you're right."

"When have I ever not been right, kelp head?" I asked brightly.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Don't answer that."

PJOxPJOxPJO

_Hazel_

I hurried out of the Senate Hall, trying not to trip over my cumbersome toga. If there was one tradition I thought we could do without around here, it was the togas.

Frank was speed walking next to me, trying to keep up with my pace. "Hazel? What's wrong? You've been acting weird all day, and now you're running out of the Senate Hall."

"I'm not running," I denied. It wasn't a lie. Running entailed the ability to move properly and quickly, neither of which were on my side at the moment.

"Yes you are!" Frank retorted in exasperation. "What was with you in there?"

Ah yes, my lame avoidance tactics of Leo. That hadn't exactly gone as planned. I was so frightened by the similarity between Leo and Sammy that I was now running – er – separating myself from the situation. I needed time to think. With Nico missing, I knew it was unlikely that he'd taken Sammy from the Underworld. I wasn't sure where that left me, and I hated feeling lost and weak.

Frank following me wasn't helping me though. It was just making me more nervous. I should've told Frank about Sammy, or at least have been honest with him that Sammy was more than a friend back in 1941. I'd told Percy, so why couldn't I tell Frank? _Because of how you feel about Frank_, an annoying voice in my head reminded me smugly.

Frank and I were – dating? Um, maybe that was too strong of a word. It was more like… really, really good friends who could hold hands (cue blush), and occasionally kiss each other on the cheek (double blush). Well, you get the idea. If I told Frank about Sammy, I just didn't know how he would react. Maybe he'd understand – after all, it was seventy years ago, ancient history right? But maybe he wouldn't. We were still so new in our relationship… I didn't want to jeopardize it with this Sammy/Leo problem.

"I'm fine Frank, everything's fine. I just… uh, have something's I need to do before we leave in the morning… and I'm worried about Nico." I offered lamely, though I was concerned for my brother's safety.

We'd paused on the bottom steps of the hall to talk. Frank was staring at me like he really didn't believe me, but he apparently he decided to let it go for now and sighed. "Alright, Hazel, if you say so… you're not, um, mad at me or anything right?"

I mentally smacked my forehead. Frank seemed to think that anything I was upset about linked back to him. Why? Got me. He got guilty about ridiculous things. Sad as it sounds, that was part of the reason I liked him so much. He was so sensitive and caring… and he was kind of cute when he was feeling guilty. His forehead always scrunched up and his eyes looked even more amazing, searching my face for a way to fix each and any problem I might have. If only he could…

"Frank, honestly, it's not you. I'm just tired. This is a lot to take in. Percy being Greek, Jason coming back, the quest…" I blew out a breath and rubbed my forehead. I gave him a weak smile. "I'll be down in the stables if you need me, okay?"

Frank smiled. "Yeah, okay." He leaned forward and kissed my cheek, making both of us blush.

"Well, see you later Frank," I said awkwardly.

I turned and walked back to our quarters so I could change. I needed time to think, and I knew the best way to clear my head was to take a ride. I pulled open the stable doors and smiled as Arion whinnied at me. "Ready for a ride, boy?"

Arion pawed the floor of his stable stall impatiently and I took that as a yes. I let him out, put in his bridle and pulled myself onto his back, forgoing a saddle. "Try not to go outside of the state, okay? Or at least stick to the western side of the country?" I suggested half-heartedly.

The horse looked back at me like, '_do I have to?_' I returned the look with one of my own that said, '_yes, you do if you want extra gold nuggets for dinner'._ Even though we hadn't actually communicated like Percy apparently can with horses, our agreement was understood well enough between us.

Arion trotted out of the stables at a relatively moderate pace, and once we were clear of the door we were gone.

PJOxPJOxPJO

_Leo_

I stepped out of the Senate hall, Tyson, Mrs. O'Leary and Ella trailing behind. They left me there, Tyson saying something about seeing the ponies and Ella spouting off random facts about horses from an encyclopedia. I was happy to let them go – Tyson and Mrs. O'Leary kind of freaked me out, even though they were on our side.

Piper had run off a little while ago, claiming she needed to think. Right, think. Not dip into a mega depression because Jason could be falling for the Roman girl Reyna again, just thinking, that's all. Don't get me wrong, I did feel sorry for her. Piper really liked Jason, and I'd begun to think that Jason felt the same way, but seeing him look at Reyna like he did today had me reevaluating the situation.

Piper and Jason had grown pretty close in the last couple of months at Camp Half-Blood, I'd even begun to feel like a third wheel all over again – which surprisingly, I was okay with. My friends were happy and we still hung out when I wasn't working on the _Argo II_, they never excluded me, and I tried not to walk in on them when they were alone together in Cabin One. We were cool, and that's what was really important.

When Jason ran off after Reyna, at Piper's insistence no less, it really hit me again how much Piper cared. She wanted Jason for herself, but she wasn't going to force the relationship if there was a chance Jason didn't want her. She was being a good friend… however it was stupid of her, in my opinion. I mean, _of course_ Jason wanted her.

I remembered just the other day when I was working on the hydraulics of the ship, Jason came to watch me work and hand me tools when I needed them. We'd talked about mundane things – who we thought would win capture the flag, the latest prank the Stoll brothers had pulled, how Clairese and her boyfriend Chris had been caught in heavy lip-lock in the woods. After awhile though, our conversation naturally drifted to the coming quest, as it had ever since it had been decided that there would _be_ a quest.

"_Who do you think the other demigods are?" I'd asked._

_Jason was quiet for a long time. "I don't know… I have a few theories, but nothing concrete. We won't know for sure until we get to Camp Jupiter. I almost wish…" he stopped._

_I waited for a long time, just tinkering with a few loose bolts readjusting wires as he pieced together his thoughts. The silence was beginning to get slightly awkward, so I cleared my throat. "Yeah man?" __I hated sometimes that I inherited my terrible people skills from Hephaestus. Organic life forms were just so hard to understand._

"_I almost wish I didn't have to go – that I didn't have to be a bridge. It's just, there's so many people relying on me. So many people counting on me to be there for them…" He stopped again, and I got the feeling we weren't really talking about the quest again._

"_You mean you wish you didn't have to choose between Piper and someone else – someone from your old life," I replied, my eyes locked on a troublesome connection in the circuits. I seemed to be fixing connections beyond just the ones on the ship these days._

_Jason's defenses flared up immediately. "I don't know what you're talking about," he muttered._

_I rolled my eyes. "Sure you don't. Look man, I don't know what's waiting for us in California, but I know this. You're going to have to make a choice. It's Piper or the other person that you're always thinking about. Don't deny it, bro, I've seen your face when you space out when you think no one is looking. You're going to have to choose… and you need to do it soon. Piper doesn't deserve being dragged along, and neither does the other girl, whoever she is…"_

_Jason sighed. "I know that Leo, believe me I do. I don't want to hurt Piper, I'm just… confused. I'll figure it out though." He stood up and was about to leave, when he paused in the doorway. "Her name is Reyna, by the way…" he told me softly before disappearing._

I shook my head. I definitely didn't like organic life forms much, although I tolerated my friends (more like they tolerated me). At least machines didn't have these frustrating emotions that conflicted with each other so much.

"Hey!" I looked up at the shout directed in my direction. The big Chinese kid, Frank I think his name was, was stalking towards me looking pissed. Oh great, I made a friend.

"Uh… what's up, dude?" I said, trying for a smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. I didn't need someone nearly a head taller than me and twice my weight mad at me… especially if his dad was the war god.

"What did you say to Hazel?" He demanded. I winced at the accusation in his tone.

"Hey, man, I didn't say anything to her. I swear!" I backed up quickly at the angry look in his eyes. Mental note, don't tick Frank Zhang off… could potentially lead to broken bones and severe head trauma.

"Then why was she looking at you like that?" Frank asked, appearing to be controlling his temper.

I frowned. "Like what?"

I back peddled quickly when I saw Frank getting more annoyed. "If you think I'm trying to steal your girl or something, don't worry, I'm not. I mean, yeah she's pretty, really pretty actually…"

Frank growled and gripped his sword. Crap. That was the wrong thing to say. "I mean – uh, she's not my type, you know? I tend to aim for the super unattainable – even though I don't get anywhere that way – and Hazel's not it. I'd be more likely to hit on Reyna than…" I barely had time to stop my babbling and duck when Frank lunged at me.

I came back up clutching my three pound hammer. "Whoa! Hey, let's not make any Leo sandwiches, okay?"

Frank bared his teeth at me, but he paused. A good sign, I thought. There was a stand-off between us for a long time, with him glaring at me and me trying to think of a way out of this. Then he suddenly shook his head. "Forget it. I can't maim you like I'd like to – especially if I have to spend the next couple of weeks stuck with you on this quest."

Not exactly an apology, but I'd take whatever I could take. "Yeah, that wouldn't work so well. So… no hard, feelings right?" I said hopefully.

Frank snorted and sheathed his sword, "Yeah, sure, whatever." He sent me one final look like 'I'll kill you later' before he walked off. Yeah, this guy was definitely related to Clairese.

I put my hammer away slowly, before running a hand through my hair and taking a deep breath. That was close. I really didn't want to have to fight that guy. 'Cause, you know, after Piper made that cool speech about getting along, I wouldn't want to kill Frank and mess everything up. Yeah.

I walked the rest of the way down the stairs, through the city, and back to the _Argo II_. My siblings waved half-heartedly as I boarded, distracted as always by the many machines and projects around them. Most of them were working on little repairs that needed to be made to the ship, but a handful was crafting personal stuff for fun. Now that the curse was broken, the Hephaestus cabin was taking full advantage of the freedom to build without needing a medic on standby. The amount of band-aids and splints had been cut in half just in the last month.

"How'd it go?" Nyssa, one of my older sisters, had just come up from below decks. My little sister, Harley, and one of my brothers, Peter, were with her.

I shrugged. "Well, they're not going to kill us."

"That's good, right?" Harley asked.

I half laughed. "Yeah, that's good."

"What else happened?" Peter demanded.

I shook my head. "I dunno man, it was weird. They really don't like Greeks. Their augur, Octavian, acts like we're declaring war just by coming here."

"What's an augur?" Harley tilted her head to the side.

"He's like Rachel Dare, but not nearly as cool and definitely three times weirder. He carries around this knife that he guts stuffed animals with, it's kind of creepy." I held in a shudder.

"Why does he mutilate toys?" Nyssa muttered, looking as freaked out as I felt.

"Something about reading the will of the gods… yeah, I don't get it either." I added at the confused looks I received.

I glanced around and saw that nothing major needed my attention for the moment. "Listen, I think I'm gonna go below and chill out until dinner. We're eating in Camp Jupiter with the Romans. I think Reyna said something about a horn going off, like the conch does at Camp Half-Blood."

Nyssa nodded. "We'll send someone to find you." She gave me a worried look as I walked down the stairs into the sleeping quarters, all the while trying to maintain a relaxed front.

I couldn't let my siblings know just how tired and anxious I really was. The only good thing we had going for us at the moment was that hopefully we'd be leaving in the morning, and wouldn't have to worry about strange augurs and hostile Romans for awhile. I should've known that our luck couldn't hold.


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you all for your continued support of this story. If you haven't done so, please go back to the first three of chapters to note a couple of changes that I've made. Nothing overly major, but several people pointed out to me – and I really should have known this, I own the book for heaven's sake – Nico wouldn't be in Rome currently, having been taken captive by the giant army._

_Sorry if that's a spoiler, but this story really should be read after SoN because otherwise there will be a lot of things that won't make sense – therefore, don't flame me for what shouldn't be a spoiler for you all please! ;)_

_Moving along, in the way of anonymous reviewers, we have one this week that needed to be answered:_

_Lubi: Thank you so much :) I really appreciate that you've written me so many reviews – one for every chapter actually – they really make my day, so thank you :D_

_Also, it should be noted, although I made some corrections to my last couple of chapters, I am not going to change things around just because someone leaves me a lot of rude reviews about it (you know who you are). I appreciate and encourage you all to give me constructive criticism, but flames are not respected or wanted._

_This is fan fiction. There will be errors, and there will be things that I'll write that not everyone agrees with, but I am allowed to do that – because it's FAN fiction. If you want a perfect story where everything matches the past plots exactly, then you will have to wait for the actual "Mark of Athena" to come out. That's a year from now, in case you're wondering._

_I hope I don't offend anyone, but I want to make these points clear. Thank you again for reading, reviewing, and putting this story and me on your favorite and alert lists. You guys are awesome :) Onward!_

**That's My Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter 4**

_Jason:_

"Reyna, wait up!" I called.

Reyna ignored me, maintaining an angry stalk back to the principia, Octavian trying to convince her to reconsider her decision the whole time. I rolled my eyes and picked up my pace, matching Reyna's shorter stride easily. She continued to act like we didn't exist, while Octavian babbled on about conspiracy theories and battle strategies. I'd missed a lot of things about Camp Jupiter, but if there was one thing I didn't miss, it was Octavian. I'd almost forgotten how annoying he was.

"…and really, how could you possibly believe those Greeks could be anything but trouble? They're here to overthrow us, Reyna – they're probably working for the giants and Gaea! How can we trust them?" Octavian hardly paused in his long-winded speech for Reyna to reply.

I wondered if she would even answer, were she able to get a word in edgewise. I could see her jaw clench as the augur kept talking. I couldn't blame her. Octavian was starting to tick me off too.

I'd spent nine months at Camp Half-Blood; they weren't barbarians – they were cool (sort of) and nice (most of them). Okay, so they weren't as structured as Camp Jupiter, and maybe Cabin One could use a makeover – perhaps the edition of beds and a bathroom, or perhaps a throw pillow or two… – but over the last couple of months, I'd come to view them as another family. Thalia being there helped with that image of course, but it was more than that.

Annabeth was like a sister to me, someone both easy to talk to and good for bouncing ideas off of. Leo was like an annoying pest of a brother, but he could always make me laugh. Clairese was, well, brash and a bit moody, but she made a great sparring partner. The Stoll brothers were fun, as long as I remembered to keep one hand on my wallet. Chiron was a good teacher and a willing listener, plus super smart (not surprising, the guy was three thousand years old). Really, everyone from Camp Half-Blood was amazing… especially Piper.

I didn't know how I was going to – as Piper put it – 'clear the air' with Reyna, but I knew I had to try. Like Leo said, I couldn't drag either of them along; it wouldn't be fair. The only problem was, while I knew that I really liked Piper, I liked Reyna too. They were so different, yet so similar. Both strong, both brave, both beautiful – just in different ways. Jupiter help me, this was going to be tougher than I thought.

While I was having an inner debate, Octavian was still droning on like an idiot, arguing for a lost cause. "And I totally knew that Jackson kid was trouble. First thing I thought when he showed up was 'watch this guy – he's a double-crossing trader'! He led those graecus' here. He got us to trust him; told them our location; and let them cross into our borders. I just know that by nightfall we're going to be overrun with them!"

Okay, now I was pissed. This had to stop now, or Octavian would find himself being used as a human lightning rod. As if sensing my thoughts, or my mood, the sky overhead rumbled. I imagined the message being delivered was something along the lines of 'now, now, play nice with the little augur.' If that was what Jupiter or Juno, or whoever was trying to tell me, they could kiss my gladius.

"Octavian," I snapped.

He finally shut up as he looked up, like he just now realized I was standing here. Unfortunately, he misinterpreted the seething look in my eyes. "You were with them, Jason! Tell Reyna that we ought to dump them all in the Bay and be done with it." He looked smug, like he actually thought I might agree with him and his case was as good as sealed.

We were now entering the praetor's office. The gold and silver dogs, Argentum and Aurum, still stood at attention on either side of the desk, and the bowl jelly beans was still there along with various papers as always. There was something different about the office though. I couldn't put my finger on it... probably because I was resisting the urge to slap Octavian.

"They are not our enemies. I've spent nine months with them and they're nothing like you think they are," I stated calmly. "They're brave and clever, and they're…" I paused, looking for the right word, "fun. Really fun."

Reyna raised an eyebrow slightly at that.

Octavian scoffed, "have you gone soft on us, Grace? Fun – _really_? We're Romans – warriors, strategists. We stand for honor, discipline and order. Not fun." He practically sneered at me, and I swear I was _this close_ to running him through with my newly retrieved sword.

I sighed in agitation. "You guys don't get it. Okay, so they don't do things the same way we do – they order their ranks in cabins by godly parent, their capture the flag is less elaborate, the satyrs that hang around work for the camp as protectors, leading demigods to camp... Still, even if they're a little disorganized sometimes, they're brave and clever. Great soldiers when the time comes, but they know how to relax," I got strange looks for that statement.

I threw up my hands in exasperation, "For Jupiter's sake, they're on our side!"

"Are they?" Octavian asked suspiciously, in a tone that said he didn't think so. "The Ancient Greeks were known for their theater performances – their tragedies. Who's to say these demigods haven't been performing an act for you? Fooling you into thinking they were harmless, like Jackson has so obviously done to us," Octavian muttered something under his breath to the effect of 'praetor my ceremonial knife'.

I rolled my eyes and made a dismissing gesture at the augur. Trying to reason with him was useless. Besides, he wasn't who I came here to talk to. "Reyna, listen to me. You know me. Have I ever lied to you? Tried to mislead you?"

Reyna's iciness melted a little. "Jason, that's not fair. You can't blame me for being a little wary." She shook her head and took a seat behind the long table. "Anyway, I already passed judgment. They're allowed to stay. It doesn't mean I trust them yet," she shot me a pointed look, "but they're being given the benefit of the doubt in light of the prophecy."

"_Prophecy?_" Octavian choked. "Reyna, if a prophecy was happening, _I_ would know it! I'm the augur for Apollo's sake!"

Reyna gave him a sharp look. "You're not perfect Octavian. Even you said that lately your vision has been strangely dim. The gods, the Mist, or _something_ is shrouding us in darkness – purposefully making sure we're clueless about what we're facing."

"And yet you believe those graecus' over me?" He bit out sharply.

"They have an Oracle, Reyna," I said quietly. "She's good. Granted, she's been having trouble too, but she still has amazing insights. She calls them hunches, but most of the time, they pan out."

"Oracle? That's impossible!" Octavian exclaimed. "You're lying!"

"No, I'm not!" I shouted in his pale, sickly face. My patience had run out a long time ago.

"ENOUGH!" Reyna yelled. The grey hounds growled to emphasize the point. "I'm done listening to this," the praetor seethed, her dark eyes sharp. "I have already passed judgment. If the Greeks turn out to be our allies, great, we'll need them in the coming war. If not, well it's not the first time we've fought demigods like them…" Her face was stony, but her tone indicated how weary she was getting of finding more and more enemies to pick battles with.

It might seem like a strange sentiment coming from a daughter of the goddess of battle, but I knew Reyna's history well – it wasn't happy. Octavian didn't seem to notice her change in manner, still incensed over being put in his place. I only noticed because we'd been praetors together. After all we'd been through I could read her as easily as a Latin book, even considering I had amnesia for months.

Reyna sighed very softly, composing her face carefully back into an impassive mask. "My decision is final. If you want to keep talking about this, I suggest you do so from the bottom of the Little Tiber, because that's where I'm going to have my colleague send you." She sat down again and moved some papers around, typing on a tablet like she was taking notes. She was always good at ending a conversation.

Octavian opened and closed his mouth several times like a guppy fish. Finally he snorted angrily and spun around, marching for the door. "You'll regret this, Reyna. I promise you will. By the power of the gods, you'll be sorry!" He spat over his shoulder before disappearing.

I almost felt like there should've been a loud rumble of thunder from the sky, but I guess I was just used to that happening at Camp Half-Blood. They seemed to tick the gods off more than we did. Or maybe the Roman gods were more tolerant. Whatever, I could think about that later.

Now that Reyna and I were alone, my nerves shot up again. I was surprised my feet didn't actually lift off the ground. I knew what needed to be done. Unfortunately, I didn't know _how_ it would get done. What do you say to the girl you'd gotten close to through working closely together, when you'd been plucked from your life, had your memory wiped and fallen in love with another girl?

In a weird, sick way, I almost felt like my namesake. That Jason promised Medea he'd love her forever, but he fell in love with another girl and dumped the sorceress. I just hoped my story worked out better than his did. I'd met Medea, yet somehow, I think Reyna would be crueler if I pissed her off.

Reyna didn't look up from her scrolls and tablet. "Jason, if you have something to say, say it already. I don't have all day, you know."

I took a deep breath, and hoped Juno was in a good mood. "Reyna, I… I didn't mean to disappear on – the camp." I'd started to say 'you' and stopped. It wouldn't put her in a good frame of mind to be all '_oh hey, Reyna! Good to see you! By the way, I fell in love with someone else while I was gone, that's okay right?'…_ Yeah.

Reyna paused, "I know that. Juno needed you to go to the Greek camp. I understand that." Her tone was purposefully void of emotion and she didn't look up from her work. A moment later, she went back to writing. That was it.

I sighed rubbed my eyes. Gods this was harder than I thought. "There's something you should know, Reyna."

"Mmhmm, what's that?" Still hadn't looked up.

"This is hard for me to explain…" I stopped again. Sheesh I was getting annoyed with myself at this point. "I lost my memories the same way Percy did. I remembered vague things – Roman names and terms, how to fight, that there was something important out here in California… but nothing concrete." I let that sink in for a minute.

Reyna was, in spite of everything, continuing to write quietly. I could tell she was listening though because of the way her shoulders had tensed.

I finally decided just to spit it out. "Reyna I didn't remember you." I hurried on before I lost my nerve, "I didn't remember you, or Hazel, or Dakota, or Gwendolyn… nothing specific like that." There, now it was out.

Reyna carefully set down her pen and clasped her hands. She looked up. Her face was passive. Her eyes, not so much. I could see I'd hurt her. It killed me inwardly to know that. I couldn't take it back though. Words were like the slashes and stabs of a sword – you could never take them back, never erase them, never could say '_oops, sorry, didn't mean to maim you'_. It was always too little, too late.

"I see. That's unfortunate," She said. She moved a piece of dark hair out of her eyes. "I suppose, you're telling me this for a reason?"

"Yes… Reyna," I shook my head. "I know we could've been something if we'd had the time to pursue it. We didn't have that time."

"No. No we didn't." Her voice was watery. A tiny crack showed in her impenetrable armor and I'd been the one who caused it.

"I'm sorry, Rey." I told her softly. And I was, truly and completely.

"There's someone else, isn't there?" A small tear had leaked out.

I nodded miserably. I liked Piper so much, still I hated doing this to Reyna, she deserved better.

Reyna nodded. "If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone for awhile. I'm sure your friends are wondering where you are."

I took the hint.

"Okay." I turned and walked to the door.

I looked back in time to see one last glimpse of a broken-hearted girl sitting alone and miserable with no one but gold and silver dogs for company. Gods I was such a heel. I twisted back around and left quickly.


	5. Chapter 5

_Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and put me on their various lists – your support means so much :)_

_Reviews:_

_AceOfSpadeZz: Had to be done sadly, I really didn't like doing that to Reyna tho :( :evil grin: you'll see what happens in the Frank/Hazel/Leo love triangle soon lol thanks for the review!_

_Mrscedwardpattinson: I try to get them out as fast as possible :) I've been thinking about it… I'll have to do some brain storming for a bit before I can think of a plausible explanation and add it to the story – probably won't mention it for awhile :) thanks for the review!_

_Lubi: Hey, you don't want to make a login, who am I to judge? I'm just happy to get the review :D thanks for your support and thoughts, they help me out a lot :)_

_I know most of you didn't like the last chapter much because of what happened between Jason and Reyna – sorry about that, but I think it was necessary. I'm not a big Jayna fan, totally Jasper all the way, but I have to sympathize with Reyna. Don't worry guys, she'll find someone to be with by the time I'm done with this ;) So, without further ado, here is chapter five! Onward! :D_

**That's My Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter 5**

Dinner that night was well, weird. For one thing, we sat on low couches around tables and everyone was constantly changing seats. For another, wind nymphs were constantly rushing around the dinning all in a blur, whipping camper's hair and clothes around as they kept their plates and drinks well topped off. Another weird thing? Demigods of all parental lineages – Mars, Mercury, Bellona, Minerva, Ceres and other gods as well as legacy kids – chatted to each other and laughed and played games and gossiped without fighting. Well, not much fighting, I did see a Vulcan demigod throw a roll at some Venus kid's head.

This was not at all how we did it back at Camp Half-Blood, but I suppose in a way that was the point. They were Roman, so they ate Roman style. I understood that, but it was still weird.

I sat next to Percy at the Fifth Cohort's table. Along with us were Hazel, Frank, Leo, Piper, Jason, Grover, Tyson, Ella, and a handful of Leo's siblings. The rest of the _Argo II's_ crew were scattered to other tables. It was sort of fun – I was back with Percy and didn't have to worry about him for at least a little while – but the silence around the table was awkward. An undercurrent of unease resided among us, despite Percy and Leo's attempts to break it with smart alack remarks.

Aside from Grover, Tyson and Ella, everyone currently sitting at this table was one of the seven demigods that had been chosen by Hera – Juno, whatever – to save the world. Needless to say, we were all nervous. We knew we had to get along, and yet it was evident from the start that there were underlying problems already. Trying to make conversation and keep things lighthearted was like trying to give Medusa a root canal, not an easy task, let me tell you.

The worst part? I could already tell where everyone would side if we did fall to fighting. Stupid battle-strategizing mind, sometimes I really hated being Athena's kid.

There was a definite hostility between Leo and Frank, the main problem being Hazel who sat between them, pale faced and silent as she ate her gumbo shrimp.

Jason – despite being back home again – had seemed down ever since the senate meeting, even though Piper was trying to cheer him up. Jason smiled half-heartedly at her, but I caught him glancing at Reyna out of the corner of his eyes several times, looking pained. Reyna, it seemed, was purposefully avoiding our corner of the room.

Tyson was surprisingly quiet as he and Ella sat next to each other, both of them blushing whenever their eyes met, classic school yard crush style. It was kind of cute.

Two of Leo's older siblings, Nyssa and Peter talked quietly to themselves, discussing the ships electrical wiring. Harley sat between them, just seeming to enjoy the chatter and being close to her big brothers and sisters while she ate, her brown eyes stuck on Leo. I swear that girl hero-worshiped the elf like nobody's business.

Grover and Percy were talking and laughing like old times, covering over most of the silence. Out of all of us, they were the only ones acting like the world wasn't probably ending on the summer solstice, which made me happy that at least someone was having a good time.

I took a sip of my soda, half wishing that some of my friends from back at camp were here. The Stoll brothers would've had us rolling on the floor laughing, Katie Gardner scolding them all along. Clairese would've started picking a fight with Frank or any other big kid in here, challenging them to a wrestling contest while Chris would watch, rolling his eyes. Heck, I would've settled for Drew hitting on Percy if it meant breaking up this unbearable, awkward standoff… then again, maybe not.

"So," Leo said suddenly, catching our attention. Apparently he'd given up trying to get Frank to stop glaring at him. "I assume someone has a plan for getting us to Rome and then Greece?"

Everyone looked at Jason and Percy, but they were looking at me. I blushed. "What?"

Percy snorted. "Seriously, you have to ask? I thought I was the one with amnesia…"

"You always have a plan, Annabeth," Jason said, like it was obvious.

I frowned. "Do not," I argued. Why I don't know, I just did. Why did everyone think I was perfect anyway?

"If it weren't for you, Wise Girl, I probably would have died five years ago on our first quest and Nico would've been the kid of the last great prophecy," Percy told me, looking completely at ease with this fact, despite that he was discussing what could've been his death. He did after all see the Fates snip a life cord. Granted, we found out later it wasn't his, but still…

I hated to admit it, but he was probably right. He was a hopeless seaweed brain from the start, and it's only been recently that his condition's gotten any better. "Okay, fine. I still don't see why you think I'm supposed to come up with the plan. You two are the sons of the big three – you're leading this quest."

Frank frowned. "Hazel's a child of the big three too, doesn't she get a say in this?" I had to admit, it was sort of endearing the way he felt the need to protect his girlfriend's honor.

Hazel seemed to sink lower in her seat, blushing furiously. "Frank, it's fine. I'm not a leader and I don't want to be. Percy and Jason are more qualified to lead us than I am. I've only been on one quest; they've been on at least a dozen between them."

"See? Even Hazel agrees," I said, getting us back on track. "So what's the plan, Seaweed Brain? Got any tricks up your sleeve, Sparky?"

"Sparky?" Percy muttered, glancing at Jason.

"Seaweed Brain?" Jason also murmured, mirroring Percy's curious look.

Leo snickered. When I looked at him, he was eating his tacos quietly, his expression docile and innocent. I rolled my eyes privately. Yeah, like Leo could ever be innocent.

Percy and Jason seemed to hold a silent conversation using their eyes. It was a bit odd. They hardly knew each other, yet they were able to understand the other without words. Maybe it was because they were so similar.

Sure, Percy tended to be pretty goofy while Jason was very quiet and more distant, but they both radiated this quiet aura of power. Both shared a hidden sadness that comes with knowing you have a lot of responsibility put on you, and you're not sure if you can meet the expectations of others. The sadness of knowing you have a terrible destiny awaiting you, and the Fates may someday present you with a challenge you can't handle and then your life will be over.

I suppose in a way, all us demigods know that someday there will be some monster too strong for us and we'll die in battle, or maybe we'll do something stupid and anger the gods. But for kids like Percy and Jason, it was different somehow… worse even, knowing they couldn't rely on their parents or others for help. It was all on them.

"We leave in the morning as soon as the sun is up," Percy said eventually.

"We fly and sail as fast as possible back across the US," Jason continued.

"We fight some monsters," Percy added with a grin.

"We make it to Rome and later Greece," Jason grinned as well.

"We kick Gaea's and the giants' butts," Percy sniggered.

"And we improvise… a lot!" They said at the same time, laughing a little hysterically.

The rest of us looked at them blankly. Frank and Hazel appeared slightly amused. Leo was smirking outright. Piper rolled her multicolored eyes, but it was evident from her small smile that she wasn't too annoyed. Grover started eating his napkin. Tyson was too wrapped up in making googly eyes as Ella to notice the edgy silence that had settled over the table.

"That's it?" I asked, staring at them with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep," Jason replied.

"Pretty much," Percy seconded.

"We're doomed," I smacked my forehead.

Grover bleated. "We had more of a plan when we first stepped foot in the Labyrinth!"

"That was because it was Annabeth's quest that time," Percy joked.

I punched his arm. "Not, funny." That had to be the worst quest ever. I still had nightmares about that place.

"You guys went through the Labyrinth? As in Daedalus' Labyrinth?" Piper asked, leaning forward, her eyes shining excitedly at the thought. I'd almost forgotten that she and her dad had researched Greek myths for a movie part he had a year or two ago. Surprisingly, she remembered most of what she learned.

"Not as glamorous as you might think," Percy deadpanned, rolling his eyes.

"We almost got killed down there!" Grover added.

Tyson suddenly came back to the conversation, breaking his staring and blushing contest with Ella. "Found One-Hundred-Handed One! Brother Briares – helped to fight bad Titans!"

I nodded reluctantly. "We did accomplish that much. Still wasn't our best quest…" Especially meeting up with King Minos – I prayed Gaea didn't decide to bring _him_ back.

"Back up," Leo said. "What's a 'hundred handed one'?"

"A race of ancient children born to Gaea – nearly as old as the Cyclopes and very powerful… I didn't think they still existed." Surprisingly, it was Hazel who answered.

"Briares is the only one left," Tyson said sadly, his big brown eye tearing up.

Percy patted his brother's shoulder. "Easy big guy. Briares is with dad right now – remember? He's not sitting in the dark anymore. He's helping Poseidon's army anyway he can. I bet he'll help us beat the giants if we can get dad fighting."

Tyson nodded, sniffing. "Yes. Helping to teach us Cyclopes the old ways – the things we have forgotten. He will throw mountains on giants. Big mountains!"

Piper looked away from Tyson and moved her salad around uncomfortably. I couldn't say I blamed her for still being nervous about Tyson. She and Leo and Jason had had a pretty nasty run in with the Northern Cyclopes in Detroit, a situation that had been scarily similar to what happened to me, Thalia and Luke when I was little. I could definitely sympathize.

"It still amazes me you two are related," Frank said, mostly to himself but everyone heard him. He blushed deeply. "Not that, you know, there's anything wrong with that! It's just, um, weird you know?"

Percy smirked. "I hate to break it to you Frank, but I'm not the only one here related to Tyson. 'Afraid you're stuck with us, big guy."

I frowned and realized everyone else aside from Ella (who was muttering the dictionary entry under 'guy' to herself), and Hazel (who didn't look perturbed by Percy's comment in the least), was also doing the same.

"What do you mean –?" I didn't get to finish my sentence.

Reyna had stood up from her table and gotten the dining hall to quiet down so she could speak. "As many of you know, we have been visited by and are welcoming our fellow Greek demigods into our camp tonight."

Several stares, some hostile, some merely curious – Octavian's was calculating – were sent our way and I couldn't help grabbing Percy's hand under the table, feeling self-conscious. Hey, if you had four hundred kids who could kill you in the blink of an eye gawking at you, you'd be nervous too!

Reyna, Bellona bless her, kept going so we didn't quite feel so much like animals in a zoo. "The Prophecy of Seven has begun. It has been determined who the seven are, and that they will be the ones to fight to protect, not only us, but all demigods, gods and the entirety of Western Civilization."

She paused, letting that sink in. "It is a great and noble responsibility, a great honor, but they have a hard road ahead. They will have to reach the birthplace of the gods, and battle not only innumerable monsters, but the giants of old and Gaea herself."

"Thanks for reminding us, I've been missing Dirt Woman," Leo muttered. Piper elbowed him sharply, and he shut up.

Reyna continued, thankfully having not heard Leo. "I have faith in these demigods; faith that these seven will save us by convincing the gods to act; faith that they will fight hard and strong; faith that they will return safely. Your own praetor Percy Jackson, and former praetor Jason Grace, will lead them into battle. We know not what lies ahead of them – neither the physical obstacles, nor the emotional and mental trials. But if the gods are with them, they will return victoriously in glory and honor."

Reyna lifted her glass high, "To the gods! To the seven! To victory!" she called, and the rest of the camp took up the toast.

We lifted our glasses as well, and drank. I set down my cup and looked around at our ragtag group, memorizing faces. A few were brave and determined, some were visibly anxious, and all of us, I'm sure, were secretly terrified. I know I was.

Percy put his arm around my shoulder; Piper gently touched Jason's cheek; Hazel looked at Leo, but let Frank pull her close; Leo didn't look at any of us, and instead stared at the table, his face strangely solemn, while his siblings awkwardly patted his back; Grover and Tyson shared grave looks, while even Ella was oddly quiet.

There was so much riding on us, so much that could go wrong… aw, Hades, we were screwed.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hello, hello! I'm baaaaacccckkkk! ;):D Quick fyi, I've updated – again – chapters two and four. In accord with my changes, here's some stuff you should know about my story._

_It should be noted henceforth, that I believe Rick Riordan made a mistake in his calculations…I know, I know, I'm speaking blasphemy here, but seriously, check my math for a second: Percy and Annabeth get together in August, Percy claims they were a couple for two months putting us into mid October when he was Hera-napped, it's June when SoN takes place – end of June at that; so let's do the math together shall we? October, November, December, January, February, March, April, May, June – NINE MONTHS PEOPLE! Not eight! Or seven!_

_Therefore, Percy was missing for nine months, and Jason was with Camp Half-Blood for nine months – Percy just spent the majority of that time asleep. That also reminds me of how much I dislike Hypnos; it was one thing when he put Grover to sleep for three months in The Last Olympian, it's a whole 'nother enchilada when he messes with Percy! (Which I think Hera roped him into doing.) So, here's a big, fat raspberry for both of them! :Blows raspberry right into Hera and Hypnos' faces: Haha!_

_Alright – that aside – let's get to the reviews:_

_Lubi: Nah, not much, more of a filler chapter, but this one should be better I think ;)_

_(No name provided): Yes I realized that after your comment – I went back and checked, and fixed it. If you look at the chapter now, that's gone. Thanks for the heads up :)_

_Lotlot: Thank you so much, glad you're having as much fun as I am :D_

_Anonyma: Thanks :) uh, yeah, sorry about that, it's fixed now and he's still missing, but you might see him soon ;) Also, if you look above this part, I explained why I did that with the timeline._

_Nobody (clever name by the way ;):D): Lol glad you liked it, I was trying to break up some of the tension lol_

_Storyreader302: Thank you very much, here's your update ;)_

_Anonymous: Thank you very much :) I pride myself on trying to keep as consistent as possible, and I've tried hard to root out any mistakes I make, you guy's support helps so much, so thanks :D Oh, and what do you mean by "A friend"? That's a little ominous lol you're going to have me brooding over that for awhile ;)_

_Oh, and one final factoid I found interesting – the other day when I was checking the hits for this story (wow and thanks for the support btw) the number of hits was :insert drumroll: 6,666! :O Weird, right? Lol! :D_

_:Crickets chirp and Rae fidgets nervously:_

_Um, for those who don't get it, that's Bible humor, but uh, yeah, whatever… Anyways, my updates are going to be slower as I concentrate on school, but they will come. I love this story too much to give up on it! ;):D As always – Onward!_

**That's My Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter Six**

_Leo_

After dinner, I walked back towards the ship, my siblings following. Jason was going to stay at his old house, which was technically designated for the praetor, but Percy said he would be sleeping in the Fifth Cohorts barracks so it was cool. I think the guy didn't want to step on Jason's toes anymore than he already had, which I could totally understand. It was one thing that he'd taken Jason's job, if I was him, I wouldn't have wanted to steal his house too.

Piper was staying with Jason – he claimed there was a guest bedroom, but I didn't completely buy it, though I wasn't going to say anything. I valued my life, thank you very much. Annabeth was going to the Fifth Cohort's barracks as well with Percy, along with Frank and Hazel. We'd meet at the ship at first light tomorrow morning to leave.

Thinking of Hazel made me a little nervous, even more than Frank weirdly enough. Whenever she looked at me, it was like there was something wrong with me… more than usual anyway. Her face would go pale, her strange gold eyes would fill with dread and she looked ready to bolt any second. I know I was a little strange, but seriously, she looked at me like I remembered staring at the paramedics when they told me my mom was dead.

As if that wasn't strange enough – and I'd seen plenty of strange things – there was something else about her. I knew her from somewhere. Don't ask how, I know it's impossible, and I'm not claiming I knew her personally but there was something... I don't know. She stirred up this fuzzy, distant memory, like something that I caught half a glimpse of when I was only a toddler, maybe younger. I couldn't shake the feeling, and it unnerved me to no end.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts I didn't see the group of people in front of me until I plowed into them, or more specifically one of them… a very soft one of them. I slowly got up from the tangle of arms and legs, looking down at the person I'd landed on top of. My cheeks burned in embarrassment as I met her furious gaze.

"I – I'm so sorry! I totally didn't see you!" I stammered, scrambling to my feet and offering Reyna a hand to help her up.

She took no notice of my hand and got up by herself, brushing off her purple cloak and clothes stiffly. "It's fine. No harm done."

Nyssa seemed to sense that we didn't need an audience. She elbowed Peter, and together they herded my siblings back towards the ship, muttering something along the lines of 'we'll see you later.' The group that had been walking with Reyna also dispersed, leaving the two of us alone.

"I, uh, really liked your speech," I muttered, my face still very warm. I rubbed the back of my neck and tried to breathe normally.

I had no idea what was wrong with me – I never got tongue tied in front of girls like this. I was always smooth, suave Leo around pretty girls (and Reyna was pretty), but now I was acting like scared little Leo that used to get beat up on the playground before I became the class clown.

Reyna studied me coolly, but I could see a trace of something – was that amusement? – in her eyes. "Thank you, that's very kind." She paused for a moment, scrutinizing me. "You're Leo, right? Son of Vulcan?"

I shuffled my feet. "Uh, yeah, Leo… Hephaestus actually, but you know, blacksmith god either way – essentially the same." _Dios_, what was wrong with me? I sounded like an idiot.

Reyna nodded, "yes of course, Greek gods… it's hard to get used to the idea after so many years of studying Roman gods. In a way I suppose that's fundamentally what Juno's trying to teach us – to think of each other as…" she searched for the right word, her brow scrunching over her dark eyes cutely. "Equals," she finally said.

"Yeah, um, equals, right," I agreed. I mentally rolled my eyes at myself. Stupid organic life forms, they made things so hard, even having a conversation with one was nearly impossible. _I blame you for that, Dad,_ I thought, glaring at the sky. There was a subtle rumble of thunder, and it reminded me of Hephaestus' laugh, the one time I'd heard it.

Reyna lifted an eyebrow, but didn't remark on my lack of conversation skills. "I heard that you went with Jason on a quest while he was gone, saved his life actually. That's impressive."

I shrugged. "Well, you know, no big. Jason probably saved my life more times than I saved him, and Piper has been great. She kept us together when we it seemed like we were going to tear each other apart, literally." I leaned forward, getting a little more comfortable as I talked. "My advice, avoid Medea's department store – she's a real witch. That is, er, you get what I mean."

Reyna's mouth quirked up; not quite a smile, not quite a smirk, but it made my heart soar. "You met Medea?"

"Yeah, that chick was a nasty piece of work... even scarier than my Aunt Rosa in her facial mask and nightgown." I shuddered at the memory.

She chuckled very softly, "I see. Good to know. So what else do you do besides defeat sorceresses from three thousand years ago?"

I grinned, puffing my chest out in pride. "I'm the head counselor of the Hephaestus cabin – I think that's the equivalent of what Jason called your centurions. I also designed and built the _Argo II_. Um, well, with a lot of help from my siblings that is." I blushed and rubbed my neck again.

Reyna smiled softly, "Very impressive."

My blush deepened, but I smiled back. "Thanks, not quite as impressive as you of course. I noticed that being a praetor is a pretty big deal."

Reyna shrugged. "I suppose. Mostly it's just a lot of headaches, trying to keep people from gutting each other and generally dealing with the senate debates. There's a reason we have two praetors."

"Shouldering the responsibility, like how the four wheels of a car – two in front and two in back – balance the weight, it makes sense," I nodded. "It's the same way Jason and Percy are going to work together to lead the quest."

Reyna nodded as well, but there was a glimmer of something in her expressive dark eyes that was hard to identify. Resentment? Sadness? Annoyance? Jealousy? I wasn't sure. It seemed to be all those things and more. "Yes, I suppose it's like that."

She looked down, fiddling with the medal on her chest, straightening it. I poked the ground with the tip of my sneaker, a bubble of awkward silence settling around us once more. Outside of that bubble, were the sounds of laughter and chattering demigods as well as Amazons. Everyone was heading back to the barracks for the night, turning in for bed. Truthfully I was tired too. I hadn't napped much earlier, too wound up from my thoughts to sleep, and besides I was tired of the dreams that plagued me lately, so I'd tinkered until it was time for dinner. It was the only thing that could calm me anymore – it reminded me of the good times I'd had with my mom.

Reyna shifted, glancing up at me from beneath her eyelashes for just a second, her gaze intense and probing, but not unkind. It was the first time I noticed I was taller than her, the top of her head just reaching my jaw line – I'd never thought I was tall, but maybe she was short or I'd grown. I don't know why it mattered, but I thought about all this as she stared at me for that half of a millisecond. Then she coughed slightly. "I, uh, should get going. It's going to be a long day tomorrow. You should probably get some sleep too."

"Oh, uh, yeah, that's a good idea. Um, I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked, and for some reason I desperately hoped she said yes.

Reyna smiled again. That little delicate half smile that was partially amused and partially curious, like she wasn't sure what to make of me. "Yes, I imagine so. Goodnight," She finally murmured, before she turned and left, walking along the road to her house.

She didn't glace back, but somehow that was better. At least she didn't see me release a huge breath that I hadn't realized I'd been holding, running a hand through my hair and laughing to myself like an idiot. Yeah, definitely good she didn't look back.

My siblings didn't question me when I got to the ship, but I felt their curious stares boring into my back. I ignored them and went down to my cabin beneath the deck, collapsing into my hammock. I put my hands behind my head and released a chuckle as soft as a sigh. _Wow…_

_Annabeth_

"Are we all set?" I asked, taking in a fresh breath of morning air.

"Just about," Leo said, looking up from the control panel he was reading.

"Great," my gaze wandered the ship, watching as Hazel and Frank walked up the gangplank, Frank carrying Hazel's bag even though she rolled her eyes and protested she could get it. Percy was just behind them, chuckling at their antics. Piper, Leo, Jason, Ella, Tyson, Mrs. O'Leary, Hazel's horse Arion and the Hephaestus kids were already on board.

I walked over to Percy, who was still watching Hazel and Frank with an amused expression. "Hey, we're almost ready to leave," I said.

He turned to me and smiled. "Great, I just have to talk to Reyna for a second, okay?" He kissed my cheek and dropped his bag by the railing for the moment and jogged back down the gangplank to the praetor who stood waiting with a handful of campers and senators. I noticed Octavian the augur standing there as well, glaring at us and the ship in general.

I leaned on the railing and watched Percy and Reyna talk, their body language tense though I couldn't hear them. Octavian interjected something suddenly, making Percy's jaw clench for a moment before he regained control of his emotions. Reyna snapped something at Octavian, who smiled slyly and muttered something to her, making Percy's hand inch towards the pocket that held Riptide, but he held back – just barely. Octavian, satisfied that he'd managed to rattle my boyfriend, glided off; probably to gut more freaking dolls. I swear, that guy creeped the sirens out of me.

Percy and Reyna shared a few more words before she abruptly hugged him. Percy looked surprised by the interaction, but returned the gesture. Reyna pulled back first, said one more thing then walked off. In a daze, Percy came back up the gangplank onto the ship. I watched him for a long moment before I slapped him upside the head.

"Ow," he muttered, frowning at me as he rubbed his head. "What was that for?"

I rolled my eyes and stalked away to help Piper with something – anything – so that I didn't strangle that stupid seaweed brain. Of course, even if he was stupid, he was my seaweed brain and no one else's, darn it! Did he forget that essential fact with his amnesia too?

"Annabeth! Wait up!" Percy cried, running after me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side up near the bow so we'd have some privacy. "What did I do?" He demanded once he'd released me.

I folded my arms and lifted an eyebrow, giving him a hard stare for several seconds.

Realization dawned in his eyes. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Annabeth, there is nothing going on with Reyna and I. It's just that we're praetors together, and it's going to be hard on her to have me leaving again so soon like this. I told her that I wished I didn't have to run out on her and leave her to deal with Octavian and the senate by herself – it's immensely stressful, believe me. She said it was okay, that she understood, and she'd see me again when we came back." He paused and fiddled with his shirt, a slight blush creeping up his neck. "She hugged me because she hadn't gotten a chance to thank me for bringing her sister here to help, and she wanted to wish me luck. That's all."

I wanted to stay mad at him, I really did, but he looked so nervous and I could never say no when he turned those sea-green eyes on me. I rolled my eyes and sighed. "What am I going to do with you, Seaweed Brain?" I asked affectionately.

Percy smiled and kissed my cheek, knowing all was forgiven. I playfully punched his arm before we went our separate ways to help get the ship underway. We had a long journey ahead of us.

_Hazel_

Watching Camp Jupiter fade until it was a tiny dot hidden in a valley was hard. It was like leaving New Orleans all over again, that same homesick feeling settling in my stomach. It reminded me of the time some of the bigger, mean St. Agnes kids' made me eat a worm for a dare. The feeling was definitely like that, minus the taste of dirt in my mouth.

Remembering my past just inevitably made me think of Leo. I'd been doing my best to avoid him as we travelled, the Midwestern states now passing beneath us swiftly, but it was a ship. Large as it was, eventually I knew I'd have to see him, probably talk to him too. That is if I didn't throw up or faint first. Pluto this was going to be a long quest.

"You alright, Hazel? You're looking a little green around the gills," Frank asked, coming to stand beside me.

I smiled. "Nah, I'm alright." I glanced over to see Percy sitting by the main sail in the dead center of the ship, attempting to repair a net that had been ripped by a hydra a few days ago.

"I'm better than Percy at least." Seriously, the guy was as white as a ghost – I should know – and he gritted his teeth whenever we hit the slightest bit of turbulence.

Frank looked over and winced in sympathy. "Poor guy. I think he actually might look more nervous than he did on the plane ride to Alaska."

"Tyson seems fine though," I commented as the Cyclops cheerfully came up from the engine room, his huge hands covered in grease and peanut butter.

Frank shrugged. "Well, so am I. Tyson's probably okay because he's a monster, and I'm so far down the line from Neptune, I don't think Jupiter would bother incinerating me – especially since I'll probably do that myself soon enough."

On impulse I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek very gently. "Not as long as I'm here, you won't." I promised.

Frank blushed but smiled teasingly. "What are you going to do? Go down to the Underworld and browbeat Pluto and Thanatos into releasing my soul if the stick gets burnt?"

"Schist yeah, I will!" I exclaimed, grinning up at him.

Frank laughed. "You'd win too, I just know you would."

I smiled and laughed with him, enjoying the moment. Maybe this quest wouldn't be so bad…

Later that night, I was dreaming of a lavish hotel filled with gentlemen and ladies dressed the way I remember the rich white folk always did when I was a kid, during the early years of the war. My eye was drawn to a small family sitting on the side of the lobby, a man and a woman sitting and talking on a small sofa, two children who looked just like them playing nearby.

Almost immediately, I recognized my father, Pluto. I assumed the woman – an Italian lady – was his lover of the time. It sort of hurt me to know that Pluto had loved someone so soon after my own mother and I had died, but I squashed the thought. He was a god, immortal – of course he moved on. What did he care?

Pluto was imploring the woman to come to the Underworld with him so he could protect her and their children. The woman smiled, but instead of answering like I thought she would, she turned to look straight at me.

She was beautiful with her dark hair and eyes and olive toned skin. Her face had that old fashioned beauty that I hardly ever saw anymore – timeless and perfect, but also a little sad and mysterious. No wonder Pluto had fallen in love with her.

"Hello, Hazel Levesque," The woman said. Her voice was softer than silk and soothing. The lilting accent she held was sweet and slightly exotic. I immediately thought of Gaea, but that wasn't right – this lady's voice held none of the false sweetness Gaea's held, none of that 'mother knows best' crap.

The woman seemed to be reading my thoughts. "Yes, Hazel, you're right that I am nothing like Gaea. I am neither ancient and powerful, nor manipulative and controlling. I come bearing a message. It's taken me a long time to find the strength to contact you, and I had to get special permission from your father. He says hello, by the way."

I stared at her, not understanding the words I was hearing. My father sent her? He says 'hello'? "I, I thought he couldn't acknowledge me?" I asked haltingly.

The woman's expression turned sad. "He cannot do so publicly no. If he were to send you a direct message or see you, he would have to uphold the laws of dead. The laws are binding, no matter what any god or quest says, not even family gets a free pass. Just look at me," she shrugged, as if she'd become used to this fact.

I found it hard to breathe suddenly. "You're not… you're dead?"

The woman nodded. "I died long ago, at the hands of a revengeful Zeus who'd just learned Hades had broken the pact, but unlike many who have suffered similarly, I never grew bitter over my fate. Besides, Hades kept my children safe. Obscured from the vision of the gods for years, that was all I could ask for."

"Your children?" I looked at the little girl, who appeared to be about thirteen, and the boy, maybe ten. They chased each other around the lobby, the girl's black tresses bouncing behind her in loose waves, and the boy's tie was crooked. There was something about the boy that was so familiar, yet I couldn't put my finger on it.

The woman nodded and smiled at the brother and sister kindly. "They have made great sacrifices and have served their father well. My daughter, Bianca, she became a hunter of Artemis and sacrificed herself to save Percy Jackson and several others – because of her, their quest at the time succeeded."

I frowned, something in the back of my mind nagging at me. "Bianca?" I murmured.

"Yes," the woman said softly. "And my boy – my beautiful baby boy – oh how he's grown! He's had a hard life. He lost me, then his sister, and Hades was never good with children. He is often hated by the gods. Numerous times he was told that he's cursed, unwanted by both gods, demigods and mortals alike." She frowned thoughtfully. "It will be soon that his greatest test will come – even now, he suffers, trying to prevent Gaea from rising again."

A cold chill ran down my spine. "Nico. You're talking about Nico. Then, you're…" I couldn't finish. I stared at the woman, the girl, the boy – the oh so familiar boy, that was once so carefree and happy but now was often silent, serious and grim.

The woman's smile was as soft as feather. "Yes, my dear girl. Your half brother Nico is my son. He is why I am here. I have something you must see. In order to stop Gaea and prevent the giants from overthrowing the gods, you must first rescue my son from Gaea's clutches. Only he can show you the way to the Doors of Death."

The vision was beginning to get fuzzy around the edges and I panicked. There were so many questions swirling through my head. "Wait! What's your name? How do I save Nico? Will I see you again?"

The woman smiled again, soft and patient like my own mother only ever was before we knew of my curse. "My name is Maria de Angelo. To save Nico, you'll need the help of your friends and the help of a god – the rest of the details I leave up to you. As for whether you'll ever see me again, well… that will depend on how much Persephone browbeats Hades over this one dream. I knew it would never work for us to live in the Underworld when I was alive – it's not much better now that I'm dead," Maria winked, her dark eyes flashing the same way Nico's did when he was amused and my dream went dark.

When my vision cleared I was standing in an underground cavern. My heart rate immediately picking up as it reminded me of the Heart of the Earth on that fateful island in Alaska, but unlike there I didn't hear the ominous sound, _boom, boom, boom,_ like Gaea's heartbeat, which was a relief.

The room was dark, but somehow I could just make out a figure sitting on his knees in the center of the cave. The figure's head was bowed, so I couldn't see his face, and his arms were held out to the side slightly at a funny angle. The boy – I could see enough to tell it wasn't a girl – was perfectly still, barely moving a muscle as sweat dripped off his forehead, making his dark hair sticky. His eyes were squeezed shut like he was concentrating hard on something.

"_It won't work, my son," _a sleepy voice suddenly intoned, setting my nerves on edge. So Gaea was here after all. "_You're too weak, and I've already told you that you're shadow travel will not work here. Why exhaust yourself? Why so hard for gods that hate you and demigods who fear you? Join me and I will give you what you most desire."_

The boy looked up and glared at the far wall, though no one was there. I stifled a gasp, unsure if they could hear me. It was my brother, Nico. He really was a prisoner of Gaea!

"I will never join you. I'd rather drown in the River Styx," He spat. _Good for you! Let her have it!_ I wanted to shout, but I refrained.

Gaea chuckled lightly, like a parent dealing with a fussy small child. _"So spirited, so strong-willed… but I will change that soon. Soon, my dear boy, you'll stop fighting me and will willingly follow my orders – you will even kill the ones you love for me."_

"No, I won't!" Nico jerkily pulled his arms and tried to move his legs, writhing in anger. I suddenly realized why he was sitting there in that weird way. His legs, from his kneecaps down his calves and to his ankles, were covered in a layer of earth, four inches thick and as hard as concrete. His wrists were shackled in hard earthen tendrils like telephone cables connecting to the ground. He couldn't move.

"_Now, now, none of that… I wouldn't want my favorite little pawn to hurt himself, now would I?" _You could hear a sick smile in Gaea's ancient, quiet voice. The casing around Nico's legs grew thicker and the tendrils solidified even more.

"I swear to Hades, you'll pay for this!" Nico growled. "No one chains the son of the Lord of the Dead and gets away with it!"

"_Still holding out hope that you will be rescued by your dear daddy? Don't be foolish boy – the gods care nothing for their illegitimate children except for them to do their bidding. Don't believe your so called friends will help you either. Soon they will die too, along with the rest of the Olympians. They cannot stop me, no one can."_

"A bit full of yourself, aren't you, Gaea?" Nico sneered, making my chest swell with hope. Nico was tired and downtrodden, that much was obvious, but he was still fighting. We might still have a chance.

Gaea didn't comment. _"Sleep well for now, my little pawn. I will return soon to see if you've reconsidered my offer. Pleasant dreams._" Then the voice was gone, and tension of the room seemed to leave with it, thank goodness.

Nico sighed very softly and dropped his head again, staring miserably at the ground that held him prisoner. "Please, guys, please find me. I don't want to die…" A single tear slid down his cheek and fell to the floor.

I sat up with a start, the morning sun warming my face through a porthole. The vivid details of the dream were still crystal clear in my mind – Nico was in danger, and if we didn't hurry, Gaea would either break him or kill him. I had to tell the others. We were going to save my brother.


	7. Chapter 7

_First and foremost before we get started, I have to thank everyone who's made this story a success. I'm pleased to announce that there have been over 9,000 hits, 66 reviews and not only that but this story has been added to "The Best Couple from PJO" community! :D Thank you, thank you, thank you! :D_

_Another note, I have a poll up on my profile of who you think are the best couples of the PJO and HoO series – you can pick up to nine couples. Please, if you get a chance, take the poll. I want to know your opinions! :) Also, I know some of you like the idea of LeoxReyna, but how many of you don't like it? I want to hear from you, so please review, thank you B-)_

_Now for the part at least some of you look forward to, the reply to the anonymous reviewers:_

_Lubi – Glad someone else was confused besides me ;) Lol I always love hearing your comments, they make my day :) Thanks again_

_Monthgirl – Thanks for the review, I can understand your math too, but I'm sticking with nine months :) Thanks for telling me though – reviews always make me happy_

_One last note before the chapter, I have a youtube account and I've been trying to figure out how to upload some recordings I made of reading chapters of "The Lightning Thief" in the PJO series, using a still picture of the book. If that makes any sense to anyone, and if anyone's got advice, review or pm me with it, pretty please – my techy skills are sadly lacking :blush: Anyway, onward! :D_

**That's My Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter 7**

_Third-Person (man I promised myself I'd never use this! :rolleyes: )_

Percy leaned over the map Annabeth had spread across the table, frowning. "If we take a route to the Northwest, we can cut across New York, that way we can pick up supplies from Camp Half-Blood, and try to get into Mount Olympus to convince the gods to help us." His finger traced the route he suggested across the map.

Jason shook his head, "I don't know… we don't have a lot of time to waste. The solstice is only a few weeks away. Besides, Olympus is closed, they're not going to let us in just because we have a warship now – my dad would soon shoot us out of the sky.

Percy paled and grimaced. "Good point, I'm on your dad's bad side enough as it is."

Jason raised an eyebrow, "Why's that?"

Percy studied the map intensely for a long moment, not looking up. "Let's just say I tick off a lot of gods, Zeus being one of them; something about how I'm impertinent, rude, sarcastic, and technically shouldn't be alive? I think the only gods that don't really mind me are dad, Apollo and maybe Aphrodite."

Jason stared at the son of Neptune for a long moment, but then shook his head and went back to studying the map. He'd didn't have time to figure out this kid, they had more important things to do. Just when he thought he'd come up with a great route to get to Rome, someone burst into the control room.

Whoever it was had obviously run all the way there. "Percy!" A deep breath, "Jason!" Another gasping breath, "Nico! …Trouble!"

Percy turned around, finding Hazel doubled over, her hands on her knees as she sucked on oxygen greedily. She panted for another moment before she could stand up and speak, although it was a little hard to focus on her words because of the white, sheer, old fashioned nightgown she was wearing. Despite the lavender robe she had over it, the gown left little to imagination. "Guys, Nico's in trouble! Gaea has him."

Jason frowned. "Yeah, we know that Hazel. We're going to do everything we can to get him back, don't worry."

Hazel shook her head, her dark curls flying around her head. "No! You don't understand. I had a dream…"

That immediately got the boys' attention. They had Hazel sit down by the table housing the map – pulling her robe tightly around herself fortunately – and explain everything from the beginning. By the time she'd finished, Percy's jaw was closed tightly in controlled anger and sparks of electricity were coming out of Jason's clenched fists.

"This is serious," Percy muttered. "Hades wouldn't let Nico's mom contact you in a dream if the kid wasn't in real danger. We have to find him."

Hazel seemed a bit distracted by the comment about the god of the underworld and didn't answer for a moment.

Jason nodded. "I've only met Nico a few times. He may be a loner, but he doesn't deserve to be Gaea's prisoner – I'm not sure I'd wish that on my worst enemy and definitely not on a fellow demigod."

"Sometimes the demigods are the worst kind of enemies," Percy muttered, mostly to himself.

Hazel looked up sharply. "Nico isn't a bad kid!" she snapped her indignant anger competing with her worry.

Percy winced, looking contrite. "I didn't mean to say that out loud, I'm sorry. You're right, Nico isn't a bad guy. The kid's saved my life more times than I can count and he's intensely loyal to his friends and his dad – even if his dad hasn't exactly always been very fair to him." There was a short rumble of thunder outside, which Percy pointedly ignored. He and Hades both knew it was true, whether the god admitted it or not.

"Who were you talking about then?" Jason demanded, not quite satisfied.

Percy looked away. "Loyalty is important to me. I've been betrayed by demigods that I considered friends, most of whom I'd helped out. I don't like traitors – that's all. Nico isn't one though," he added for Hazel's benefit. "And we're going to find him. Did you recognize anything about the cave? Or did Mrs. de Angelo give you any clues to where it was?"

Hazel shook her head in despair. "No, nothing. All I can say is it felt like that island in Alaska – I assumed it was because of Gaea's presence. I wish I had more than that…" She put her head in her hands and tried to hold back a sob.

Percy patted the younger girl on her shoulder. "Don't cry Hazel, it'll be alright. Nico's tough and always has been. He'll be okay."

Jason opened his mouth to add his assurances, when the door opened again to reveal Frank. "Have either of you seen Hazel? She's not in her cabin and…" he cut off abruptly finding his girlfriend in question right in front of him, in her nightgown no less. "Hazel? What are you doing in here? And why aren't you dressed?" Frank's square, baby face blushed deeply, making Hazel pull her robe tighter around herself.

"I had a dream about Nico and I had to tell Percy and Jason… my brother is in a lot of trouble," Hazel replied quietly. She related the dream again for Frank's benefit, and his face paled a little.

"We have to do something," he said adamantly.

Percy smirked ever so slightly, "I think we should put that phrase on a t-shirt – we use it often enough around here." He grew serious after that though, "but you're right. We need a plan…" he trailed off and unexpectedly raced out the door.

The Romans exchanged baffled glances.

"Does he do that a lot? Just run off randomly without finishing his thought?" Jason asked.

Frank and Hazel both shrugged. "You get used to it," the former replied.

Percy came back soon enough, Annabeth being led in tow by the hand. Piper followed, along with Leo. Aside from Percy, all the Greeks looked completely lost as to what was going on.

Annabeth sighed and folded her arms as soon as Percy let her wrist go. "Okay, I'm here! Now why was I summoned? Piper and I were in the middle of a sparring match with our daggers; we were working on her blocking technique."

Leo chuckled. "Yeah, beauty queen could use it – compared to wise girl, she sucks."

Piper punched Leo sharply in the arm. "Shut up, repair boy. You fight with a stupid hammer, don't go knocking my dagger or you're going to find yourself at the wrong end of it."

Leo swallowed and quickly shut up.

"Can we get back to why I'm here, please?" Annabeth asked impatiently.

Hazel for the third time repeated her dream to everyone, her fears seeming to increase even more rather than subsiding. She'd hoped once she told someone about the dream that she'd feel better, but talking about it only seemed to build up her dread as she realized that the vision had been real, not something her over-active imagination had come up with.

Annabeth frowned, her brow wrinkling as she paced the length of the helm, thinking. Percy's eyes followed his girlfriend's every move intently. Jason also watched her, his gaze more passive. Frank and Piper tried to cheer Hazel up the best they could. Meanwhile Leo leaned against the far wall with his arms crossed, trying to be invisible to Frank and even Hazel's occasional glance.

Annabeth stopped pacing and looked out the porthole window briefly before turning to the others, "Nico was searching for the Doors of Death, correct? That was how he was captured."

The others nodded. Annabeth continued, "Gaea's main goal is to destroy Greece and Rome – the doors have got to be somewhere near there. She captured Nico for a reason, but what was it?" She seemed to be talking more to herself than the others.

Percy shrugged. "He's a demigod – does she need a reason more than that?"

Jason shook his head. "Gaea's always got a motive for every move. It's like she's playing a game of chess, she's constantly thinking at least half a dozen steps ahead of us." Percy's mouth drew into a thin line at the mention of chess, remembering that Gaea had called him her pawn.

"Jason's right," Hazel spoke up. They turned to her. "In my dream, Mrs. de Angelo said that Gaea was testing him. Gaea also said that there was an offer on the table, but Nico wasn't biting. I didn't know what they were talking about, but Gaea said '_you will kill the ones you love for me_.'" Hazel shivered and Frank tightened his hold around her shoulders.

Annabeth frowned, one hand on her dagger, the other tugging one of her curls.

Leo said, "Uh, testing? That doesn't sound good. I don't know about Nico, but I hate tests. You think Dirt Woman will at least give him a number two pencil and time to study?"

Piper bopped him upside the head. "Will you shut up? This is serious."

Leo rolled his eyes. "I know that. I'm just trying to lighten the mood."

Piper made an irritated noise in the back of her throat and shook her head, dismissing the pyromaniac. "What do you think, Jason?"

Jason shrugged. "I really don't know what to make of it. Gaea's probably trying to turn Nico against us, but I have no idea what she could offer that he would be tempted by."

Annabeth stopped pacing and stared at Percy's horrified face. _They_ both knew of something that would be nearly impossible for Nico to resist.

"Gaea couldn't be offering him…" Percy trailed off.

"I wouldn't put it past her," Annabeth replied grimly.

"But she chose to be reborn! She's gone, we'll never see her again," Percy protested.

"She's not the only card in Gaea's hand," Annabeth countered.

"Nico wouldn't really… would he?" Percy ran his hand through his hair. "Holy Poseidon, he just might. _Di Immortales!_" He cursed.

Annabeth nodded. "We've got to get to Nico before he breaks down."

"But what could Nico offer her in return?" Percy asked.

"He's the son of Hades – you've seen what he can do first hand, Percy. Gaea's gonna need a lot of extra help summoning new minions." Annabeth frowned in disgust, as though the words were bitter to the taste as well as the ears.

"What are you two talking about?" Piper demanded.

"I think I know," Hazel murmured, biting her lip. "You're talking about Nico's sister, Bianca and his mother. You think Gaea's offering to bring them back from the Underworld for him; in exchange for helping her gather more people would be glad to bring the gods to their knees."

Percy nodded his expression bleak. "Bianca was his whole world for so long. Seventy years, even frozen in time... well they were close. When she joined the Hunter's of Artemis and then died…" he broke off for a moment, swallowing back the unpleasant memory. "It tore him apart – he was never the same. And when he found out what happened to his mother, it just got worse. Hades forbid Nico from contacting his mom like he could with Bianca; said it would stir up too much trouble." Percy's green eyes were as dark and moody as a storm-tossed sea.

"If Gaea's offering to bring Maria de Angelo back, then our time schedule just got a whole lot shorter," Annabeth said. She strode to the map still on the table and eyed the suggested routes that had been outlined in pencil, shaking her head. "We'll skip the detour to Olympus – we haven't got the time to persuade our parents' to help right now – but stopping for supplies at Camp Half-Blood briefly that's not a bad idea. We'll need all the supplies we can grab. From there, we'll sail to England – the channels will be easier going in that direction. After that, we'll sail inland, making brief stops at all the former points where the torch once burned until we reach Rome."

"Why go to all those places? That'll take more time." Jason argued.

"Going to Olympus directly is pointless – they won't even let us in the lobby, let alone the elevator." Annabeth pointed out, "but if we go to all the countries where the gods once called home, we'll get their attention better. They'll think of it as a type of flattery."

Frank got up and also studied the map, nodding. "I think she's right. My first instinct would be to run straight to Rome, but we can't jump into battle without knowing we might have back up. We have a chance this way."

"Sounds good to me," Piper said. "Besides, it'll make Drew insanely jealous if she knows I went to Paris," she added with a smirk.

"Well, I'm in too," Leo shrugged. "I've always wanted to try out my language skills in Spain."

"Anything that will help Nico," Hazel agreed with a firm nod.

Annabeth glanced at Percy. He grinned, "You know I'd follow you to the ends of the earth – and if we get to slay some monsters and kick serious bad guy butt along the way, all the better."

Everyone looked at Jason. He frowned, debating silently before he nodded. "This is a strategy worthy of Minerva – or Athena," he added with a smile. "I'm in."

Annabeth smiled, reminding Percy of his first time playing Capture the Flag. Athena does always have a plan and like mother like daughter, so did Annabeth. He just hoped this plan didn't include him getting maimed with an electric spear again.


	8. Chapter 8

_Hello, lovely readers :) I'm back again. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed or put me on your various lists – you guys rock :D We're now up to 77 reviews on this story; that's like eleven per chapter, which is totally cool B) Now for the reviews:_

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**That's My Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter 8**

_Thwack!_

"Keep your guard up, Piper!" I shouted.

_Thwack!_

"Not that high up!" I barked.

_Thwack!_

"Now block!"

_Thwack!_

"I said block!"

"I _am_ blocking!" Piper retorted, spinning her dagger around to deflect mine, but as soon as she did that, she exposed her midsection and I elbowed her sharply. The air rushed out of her in a whoosh and she clutched her stomach, doubling over.

I backed off and watched her struggle to regain her breath, deciding that perhaps we both needed a break. Piper wasn't too bad with her dagger, but she still needed a lot of work. She may have beaten quite a few monsters already, but she was going to need more than her charmspeak to stay alive in battle.

To our left, Leo laughed from his seat on a couple of crates holding provisions. "Wow, Piper, she kicked your butt!"

Piper glared at him, too winded to beat the crap out of the mechanic for the moment, though I had no doubt the kid was going to get what was coming to him soon enough.

Before I could warn him to keep his big mouth shut, there were some loud grunts and curses in both Greek and Latin. I looked to the other side of the deck, finding Percy and Hazel locking swords. When we'd figured out what was happening to Nico this morning, Hazel had been freaking out and in need of an outlet for her pent up energy. Percy had suggested working on her sword fighting, and they'd been sparring ever since.

I had to admit, Hazel was good on her own – attesting to the rigorous training the Roman campers went through – but Percy was really in a different league of his own; and I wasn't just saying that because he was my boyfriend. More than just having the Greek fighting style – slash here, duck there, roll under your enemy's feet, knock the person upside the head with the flat of your blade – Percy had had a wide variety of teachers. Chiron, Daedalus, the better sword fighters from the Ares' cabin… Luke.

That thought made my blood turn cold. It had only been a year since Luke had past. It still pained me to think of him, and not just for the obvious reasons.

It was my own knife that had taken his life – the same dagger that he'd given me when he'd promised that we'd be a family, a better and stronger family than the ones we'd left behind.

In the end, he'd broken his promise. Our family was shattered, and even though he had saved us all in the end – redeeming himself by killing Kronos, sacrificing his own life – a promise was a promise. And that one would always be ruined.

"Annabeth? You okay?" Piper said uncertainly, putting a hand on my shoulder, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I looked up and blushed as I realized everyone was looking at me, even Percy and Hazel had paused in their duel to stare. "I'm fine, just thinking, that's all."

The others didn't look so sure, but the let the matter go.

Percy, though, kept looking at me, his green eyes narrowed and his face wearing the famous brooding look he was known for – the one that made teachers and adults in general label him a rebel. It was one of the things that made him so much like his father, and why my mother hated him even more. Not that I cared.

I loved my mom, but it was my life and I only got to live it once. If I wanted to be with Percy, that was my choice not my mom's. Athena and Poseidon would continue to exist – hopefully – for the rest of eternity and could argue and hold their grudges all they wanted. Percy and I only had once chance in this life, and Elysium after that – and I had no doubt we'd be there together. Percy definitely deserved it, and I'd never do anything to endanger my chance to be with him forever.

"Annabeth? You want to put this off until later?" Piper asked tentatively.

I pushed my thoughts away firmly, determined to focus on the task at hand. "No, I'm fine, let's get back to your blocking technique. Let's also work on your flexibility – I think you're still too tense and that's slowing your reaction times."

Piper nodded. "Alright," she replied, her tone weary.

Good, she was going to have to deal with battle fatigue. It was better she learned to push through it with a friendly opponent, rather than one who would willingly use it to their advantage to send her to the Underworld. We returned to our stances – Piper quickly adjusted her feet to the position I had showed her that would keep her weight distributed evenly, making me proud that she'd listened – and we began again. It was going to be a long day.

_Leo_

After watching Piper, Annabeth, Percy and Hazel spar for a little longer, I returned to the engine room to check on my siblings and address any major problems that might've come up. So far, the _Argo II_ ran beautifully with hardly a hitch, but you never knew when something was going to conk out on you.

Strolling along the lower corridors of the ship toward the engines, my hands in my pockets, I couldn't help thinking about Reyna. We hadn't talked before I left Camp Jupiter, which was mostly my fault. I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about her yet, so I just wasn't ready to talk to her. Honestly, it was a more than a little strange how my body reacted to being around her. My heart rate had sped up faster than a V8 engine, my hands were slicker than if they'd been covered in grease, and I couldn't talk properly like my tongue had been made of lead.

I'd never had this problem with girls. I was Mr. Suave – Mr. Smooth – Mr. Love Doctor… okay, maybe not the last one, considering I've never had a girlfriend, but still this reaction wasn't natural. Maybe I was becoming more like my father than I first thought. The thought wasn't encouraging. Although I no longer thought of Hephaestus as a dead beat mortal dad, we still weren't exactly buddies. I _was_ growing fonder of my siblings… even if they did lack a sense of humor.

Speaking of which, one of my younger sisters, Leah rushed past me to the door of the engine room, her long ponytail flailing around. "Where's the fire?" I called after her jokingly.

Leah glanced over her shoulder, telling me seriously, "In the engine room." She ducked inside the door, which I suddenly realized had smoke coming out of it.

"Aw, crud," I muttered, running after her.

I pushed open the door, finding total chaos on the other side. Imagine half a dozen kids yelling in Ancient Greek, two of them shooting fire extinguishers at a surprised Cyclops, and you've got what I had on my hands.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's going on in here?" I shouted above the din. It took a few more shouts and some loud whistles before I could get everyone calmed down.

Nyssa, looking the most rational out of all my siblings, answered me first. "Tyson was working on the hydraulics when a part he was fiddling with caught fire. He pulled it off to try and stop the fire, and well," she gestured uselessly around, "a few of us panicked. We've got a lot of flammable chemicals down here you know."

I sighed and shook my head. "Yeah, yeah I know. Let's just, try not to panic in the future, okay? You alright, Tyson?" I asked the Cyclops, although I knew realistically that he was probably fine.

Tyson nodded. His face, clothes and hands were covered in extinguisher foam, making him look like a melting, greasy snowman. I think Frosty needed a bath. "I'm okay. I'm sorry. Didn't mean to scare friends."

I shook my head again. "Don't worry about it man. Nobody's hurt, and the ship's still in one piece. We're all good." I glanced at my brothers and sisters, daring them to argue with me. Thankfully they didn't. "Let's just get back to work, okay?"

Everyone nodded and went back to what they were doing before the panic had ensued. Tyson started to put the part back into the machine he'd been working with when he seemed to realize for the first time it was still covered in white foam, like someone had gotten a little overzealous at a slumber party with the whipped cream. He wiped the part off and put it back, not bothering to wipe himself off in the process as he continued to tinker.

I looked over at Nyssa, who hadn't moved. "So, other than that little fiasco, how's everything else going down here?"

The older girl shrugged. "Smooth as silk. We haven't really had any problems. We've only had to do a few small adjustments to keep the engines running and the magic strong. So far, it's been smooth sailing." She frowned as if wondering that she might have just jinxed us.

I couldn't blame her, the curse of cabin nine – though officially broken – still hung over all our heads. If we screwed this quest up, everyone would blame the Hephaestus cabin and we'd be branded losers for the rest of our lives. I didn't know about the rest of my cabin mates, but I really was getting tired of that title.

"That's great," I reassured her. "Really great. We should be able to keep on schedule then. Annabeth says we should be back at Camp in a day and a half's time. We'll restock what we need and be on the road again – figuratively speaking – within a few hours then head off to our next destination. Are we all set for Percy to take over being the main driving force once we hit the Atlantic?"

Nyssa nodded. "Yes, I think so. We're still a little fuzzy on how this all works, but if what you and the blueprints are saying is right, then it should work. It makes sense at least."

"Good, that's good." I looked around and sighed tiredly.

I hadn't slept well last night, despite my best efforts. Gaea continued to send me nightmares, trying to 'deter my path' or whatever. Fat chance of that. Aunt Rosa would sooner take me back home with her and adopt me as her own _hijo_ before I would ever join Gaea. I think you can guess how low the probability is on that one, even if you do suck at math.

"Why don't you take a break? You've been working pretty hard kid. We can't have our chief engineer collapsing from exhaustion." Nyssa put her rough, calloused hand on my shoulder kindly. Her expression didn't change, but the fact that she was making an effort to be comforting meant a lot coming from someone who rarely laughed at even my best jokes.

I thought about it for a minute. A nap couldn't hurt, I reasoned. "Yeah, that's sounds pretty good actually."

I realized how that probably sounded so I added quickly, "You know, cause all this awesomeness takes a lot of power to provide. I'm a well oiled machine in need of a tuning."

Nyssa didn't smile, but there was a touch of amusement in her eyes. "Right, of course. Now get out of here before I kick you out."

I nodded and went to my cabin quickly. That might have been a joke, but it was next to impossible to tell when Nyssa was joking, so I took her words literally and skedaddled. I closed the door behind me, picked up a small packet of gears, washers and other bits of metal, and collapsed on my bunk. I tinkered with the pieces, not really thinking about what I was doing with my hands as my thoughts wandered. Inevitably, my mind once more drifted to Reyna.

Gods, that girl was amazing. She was smart, powerful, fierce, and completely out of my league. And yet… there was something about her, something I couldn't put my finger on, that was different. Under that hard, unforgiving exterior – the cold façade of a seasoned leader – there was a secret sense of humor and maybe a little bit of mischief. I was sure of it. If only I could get under that armor, maybe Reyna could see that I was a pretty cool guy, someone worth her time. If only….

I looked down at my hands, realizing they were now covered in grease and I had unknowingly finished the project I'd been working on to keep my mind busy. What I made, well… I couldn't even believe it myself for a moment.

Sitting in my hands was a small oval box, the bronze gleaming brightly even though I hadn't polished it yet. I pushed in a small button, clicking open the lid. Lifting the lid, out popped a small female figurine, about the size of the bottle of nail polish one of Piper's sisters had given her for the trip (yeah, cause we were going to defeat Mother Earth and her children the giants with 'Ruby Red Rouge – extra glossy'). The figure was dressed in a floor-length Greek chiton with laced sandals, delicate long hair piled high onto its head in a classic, old-world style and fine chiseled features. It took another millisecond for me to realize who the figure reminded me of.

I groaned and smacked my forehead. "I must have officially crossed the line from crushing to stalking," I muttered to myself, glancing through a crack between my two fingers at the tiny metal sculpture of Reyna. And there was no doubt that it was Reyna – it couldn't be anyone else.

"There's definitely something wrong with me," I murmured in annoyance to myself. Still, it was actually pretty good, considering I hadn't been thinking about it. I pulled a rag out of my tool belt, wiping my hands first and then carefully polishing the detailed statue. This had to be the most graceful thing I'd ever made, and that thought made me handle the figurine all the more gently. I didn't want to mar even a tiny bit of it, or do anything to take away from the perfect curves and dips placed precisely in the girl's bronze body.

I snorted to myself at that. 'Perfect curves and dips'? Maybe I bumped my head earlier today, and that's why I was turning into such a romantic schmuck. That had to be it. After all, Leo Valdez was no sap and never had been. Although if Reyna _liked_ saps… Nope, uh-uh, I wasn't going there. I'd lost enough of my masculinity today, didn't need yet another drop in my testosterone levels. No one would ever let me live it down.

_Jason_

It is surprisingly difficult to keep an entire warship moving across the sky at the speed of a jet engine – even if you did feel like maybe your Olympian dad just might be helping you a little by keeping the thunderstorms, fog and other sky phenomena you'd passed by several times that day away from you… maybe, probably not though. It was most likely my imagination.

I wouldn't be surprised. My brain had been imagining and thinking the strangest things all day, long before Hazel had and told us her dream. Like, for instance, I'd been thinking long and hard on how the _Argo II_ worked. Why? I have no idea. That was more Leo's thing.

Weirdly enough, we did have a steering wheel for the ship, but it wasn't necessary for anyone to man it at all times. When we were asleep, or busy doing other stuff, Leo just set the thing on auto pilot with the coordinates of our destination (which I provided; apparently I have perfect bearings when flying at the altitude of a commercial airliner) and _bam! _instant free time.

However, annoyingly enough, I had to at least pay attention enough to the ship to keep it moving with my powers – a single slip in my awareness would lead to us crashing into a mountain, or sky scraper, or giant, or anything else tall enough to smash into, so Leo had solemnly informed me before we started this crazy quest. Not an easy thing to do when you're fighting off a couple day's worth of sleeplessness and fatigue.

I hadn't slept well last night, much like Hazel, or Leo… or Percy, or… well, actually I could tell that none of us had gotten much sleep. I figured it was either the nerves of being around new people who were supposed to be our enemies, worry for what was ahead of us, or Gaea; probably a combination of all three.

Sitting on a warm, comfy sofa in the helm, studying maps and air charts to make sure we were on track, wasn't helping my battle. More than once, I felt my head begin to nod and I'd jerk up, shake myself and attempt to continue studying, only to almost doze off again. Gods, this was killing me! How was I supposed to get us back to Camp Half-Blood when I couldn't even keep my eyes open?

"You look like I do after cramming for a four hour exam all night, and then conking out half way through the test," a dry voice commented, shaking me out of near slumber land once more.

I looked up. Standing in the doorway with his hands shoved into his jean's pockets and hair still damp from a fresh shower, was Percy Jackson. He shot me a wry smile. "Can I come in, Sleeping Beauty?"

I glared irritably and scrubbed a hand over my face. "Yeah, sure, whatever," I said. I was never very pleasant company to be around when I was tired and grumpy, but I decided that if Percy was here, he probably wanted or needed something and that deserved my attention. At the very least, I hoped having a conversation with another breathing person would perk me up a bit.

He came in and took a seat across from me in an armchair, grimacing ever so slightly as he sat down. "You alright?" I asked.

Percy shrugged then winced at the action, rubbing his shoulder. "I'm fine. Hazel just wore me out, that's all. That girl's got amazing sword skills – though I think her coordination could use some work, she's awful stiff in her form."

I snorted. "The Lares back at camp would call that 'stiff form' as you call it the result of good discipline. Romans are notorious for their discipline."

Percy rolled his eyes, but smiled. "So I noticed. I wondered there to begin with if Reyna was going to feed me to Hanibal – or let Octavian gut me open and read the will of the gods through my intestines."

I laughed a little. "Hanibal is a vegetarian, but I couldn't guarantee you about Octavian – pretty sure he's wanted to slice me open a few times too… especially after I became praetor." I frowned suddenly at the thought, realizing I _wasn't_ praetor anymore.

Percy seemed to pick up on my line of thought, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. "Well, believe me, when you guys hold elections again, you've got my vote – I wouldn't put Octavian in power for anything. That kid is nuts. You're much better equipped for the job than him, or even me."

"That can't be completely true," I argued. "They raised you on a shield, remember? That's a big honor in Roman standards. They consider you a hero."

Percy laughed, but it was a sarcastic, self desecrating kind of laugh. "I'm not a hero."

I gave him a long once over with my eyes, taking in little details about his physique and appearance, ones that most people missed. There was a pale, star shaped scar on his right hand, a streak of gray hidden in his messy black hair, a brooding, sad look in his eyes like he'd had to say goodbye to a lot of good friends – more than most people did in a lifetime. Though not a body builder, and about the same height as me, he had a muscular appearance. Not bulky, but definitely well toned from years of fighting monsters.

I thought back to the stories Annabeth had told Leo, Piper and I on the way to California about this kid. When he was only twelve, he slew Medusa and the Minotaur. At thirteen, he survived the Sea of Monsters; something that I knew from personal experience wasn't easy. At fourteen, he held the weight of the sky on his shoulders and survived the Labyrinth. At fifteen, he fought Saturn, the king of the Titans. If this kid wasn't a hero, then I was a son of Mercury.

"Your friends back at camp would disagree," I replied quietly.

Percy eyed me for a second, as if contemplating throwing me over the side of the ship. "Which camp?" he countered. "The one where I let more than a dozen half-blood's die in battle, or the one I almost destroyed?" He snorted.

I shrugged. "Take your pick, they both like you."

He gave me an incredulous stare. Finally he looked away and shook his head. "I'm not a hero," he denied again firmly.

"Alright, fine," I said, holding up my hands. "Whatever, doesn't matter to me whether you believe it or not, but I'm telling you, you are. Just ask Annabeth," I added teasingly. I laughed at the glower he sent me. Now I knew what some of the Greek demigods meant about Percy. It _was_ kind of fun getting this kid riled up.

Percy rolled his eyes. "If you're just going to make fun of me, I've got other things I could be doing." He stood up to leave, but I held up a hand.

"No, wait, wait, don't go," I said. "I was just joking. What did you come up here for?"

Percy shrugged, pushing his hands back into his pockets. I could see subtly through the material he was fingering his sword. "I just wondered if you couldn't use a break driving this thing? We're over a river now, one that ultimately heads towards Long Island, I don't mind taking over for you. I think you could use the sleep."

I tried to protest the offer, but the huge yawn I gave sort of put a hole in my argument. "That does sound pretty good," I admitted reluctantly. "You don't mind? Aren't you tired too?"

Percy shook his head. "I'm still wired from fighting Hazel, I'll be fine for the next several hours."

"Alright, if you're sure," I said.

I got up and looked out the window, gradually descending the ship until we touched down in a deep, wide river. Fortunately, the area we landed in was relatively deserted – no other boats or houses around for miles, just a dirt road I could barely make out wound its way through the trees to our left.

Percy took a second to close his eyes and breathe deeply, getting used to the feel of the river I guess. When he opened his eyes again, the ship started moving along at his command, traveling faster and faster. Five knots. Ten knots. Fifteen. Twenty. Soon we were doing thirty knots up river, the currents carrying us and Percy navigating us around obstacles I couldn't even see.

Percy didn't even look tense by our speed or when to turn to avoid the shallower parts of the river. Instead, he looked completely relaxed and in his element. Which, I guess, in a way he was. This kid was good.

"You got it from here, I take it?" I said, already inching towards the door.

He grinned. "Get outta here, Grace. Go catch up on your beauty sleep. I'll handle everything in here." With that, he gave me a dismissal wave, and went over to check the adjustments to our course I'd made on the charts.

I decided to do what he'd asked and left the helm.

Even as my mind tried to wrap itself around the conversation I'd just had, or the weird kid I'd gotten paired with to lead this quest, my body demanded sleep. I went to my cabin and collapsed in the hammock. For a few seconds before falling asleep, I tried to figure out what I thought of Percy Jackson.

He was weird, extremely modest, brave (from what I'd heard through Annabeth and others), and really powerful. What did all that mean to me? I wasn't really sure. All I knew was, Percy seemed like a really cool guy and I hoped that together we could pull off this bizarre, most-likely-to-fail quest and still live to tell the tale.

_Nico_

I took a deep, shaky breath, coughing a little on the stale, dank air of the cave I was in. For the moment, neither Gaea nor any of her followers were watching me, or paying me much mind.

They thought I was weakening and it wouldn't be long before I gave into them. I _was_ weak physically – if only I'd seen those stupid dracnaes coming sooner, or heard the Lastrygonians sneaking up while I was busy battling the snake women, maybe I wouldn't have gotten captured. But I wasn't beaten. Not by a long shot.

Gaea thought she could twist my mind and make me think and see things that weren't real. Every night – with the exception of last night – she'd put me in some sort of trance, sending me back to my childhood before Bianca and I lived at the casino, before my mother had been killed by Zeus, before Hades had made us forget everything. She'd take me back to my happiest memories, making me relive them over and over, trying to wear me down. Oh and she picked some good ones, that's for sure.

There was my fifth birthday. Gaea got a kick out of that one. Hades had come to see us, smiling at me and telling me that now I was the man of the house. My mother had baked an incredible three layer chocolate cake as well as other delicious goodies from Italy that her mother had taught her; zuppa inglese, spoon cookies, zeppole, tiramisu, the works. We were all so happy. Together, laughing, talking, eating, like a normal family. If only that were true.

Then Gaea would show the day my sister was in her ballet recital when she was ten. My mother had been so excited, and Bianca was ecstatic. She'd been practicing for months and she was so good. Hades wasn't next to us in the audience, but I'd caught a glimpse of him in the wings, smiling when Bianca had bowed to the standing, cheering crowd. Most people didn't know at Camp Half-Blood that Bianca had once loved to dance. She'd wanted to tour the world once the war was over and dance everywhere – New York, France, Spain, Switzerland – anywhere there was a stage, she wanted to be on it. After being in the casino for so long, even though it only felt like a few weeks to us, eventually she stopped going to the hotel's kids dance club and stopped playing the dance arcade games. She'd outgrown it, she said. It wasn't for her anymore.

The third memory Gaea loved to bring up was of my parents, curled together on the couch in the living room of our apartment at night, listening to the radio when they thought Bianca and I were asleep. Well, Bianca had been asleep, but I woke her up so we could spy on Maria and Hades together. They were so sweet together; even back when I'd thought girls were icky I felt they were amazing to watch. Mom would curl up next to Hades, a blanket around her bare legs and he'd hold her close. They'd say a word or two once in awhile – I can't recall the exact words – but otherwise, they'd sit in silence, snuggling and occasionally stealing small kisses. _The perfect parents_, Gaea would taunt.

She'd show me other memories too, but those were the three she seemed to enjoy the most. She said they perfectly showed just how messed up my life had become because of the gods, and she'd promise me that she could bring me back to that happy place. She could bring me back my mother, and the two of us could be together forever, nothing ever separating us or breaking us up. Not Hades, not Zeus, not Death, or anyone else.

As much as I missed my mother, I didn't want her back this way. My memories – except for the ones Gaea had restored to my mind – were still a little murky of my mom, but there was something I did remember. My mom didn't want to be rescued from Zeus and the other god's wrath by my father seventy years ago – she sure as heck wouldn't want to be rescued from Death by her traitorous son now.

I could see her now, happy to see me, but extremely disappointed in my choice. _"My child,"_ she'd say, _"why did you take me from where I was supposed to be? Why did you betray your friends? You are better than this, my son."_ And I knew that was true. So I'd stayed strong – so far at least. But I knew that my resilience was running low. Soon, I wouldn't be able to refuse the offer Gaea was giving me, and I'd do anything to appease the Earth Mother.

The only problem was, I couldn't be sure Hazel and the other seven would find me in time before I slipped up. I needed to somehow guide them to my location. If only…

I stopped, a thought occurring to me. It was a crazy idea. Nothing else I'd tried had worked – Gaea had cut off all my powers, weakened me incredibly, and most likely had sealed off all magic into and out of this cave. Still, it was worth a shot. It had worked for my sister, why not me?

I concentrated hard, thinking of rainbows and praying to Iris the goddess of the color spectrum. _Please, my lady, I need your help! I have to talk to my sister and my friends – they have to find me, before it's too late. Help me, Iris, please._

For a minute, nothing happened, and I figured that yet another god was having a laugh at my expense. Then in front of me appeared a hazy shimmer, like fog or mist.

The mist formed together into a semblance of order and a woman's kind voice echoed in my mind. _Please state the hero you'd like to reach to make your collect Iris Message._

I grinned. At least one goddess up there liked me.

"Hazel Levesque," I murmured, barely loud enough for my own ears to hear. My heart pounded in my ears and beads of sweat broke out across my forehead. I couldn't get caught, I couldn't! I held my breath, then finally…

_One moment please._


	9. Chapter 9

_I'm baaack! ;D lol hey guys, just had to say thanks for all the reviews (94), faves (98), hits (13,614) and alerts (113) – you guys continue to rock my world :D Time for the anonymous reviews:_

_Lubi – Lol I share a similar feeling – I love cliffhangers, but I hate them ;D Thank you very much, and don't worry, your English is totally fine :)_

_Ozrix – Thank you :) That's very nice of you to say_

_Krysta – Aw, thanks :D I'm so glad you're enjoying it!_

_I want to let you guys know that I will be closing the poll for your favorite couple in PJO or HoO in two weeks. If you haven't voted, now is the time to do so. There aren't a lot of votes on the poll, so I encourage everyone to spread the word about it on the site – I want as many votes as possible, pretty please :D_

_Finally, before I continue, I have a message to everyone: I'd like to think I'm a nice person and pretty laidback, but I don't tolerate flames. Flamers – you know who you are – will be reported to the site administrators. I encourage and welcome reviews that include constructive criticism and little tips like with grammar, as well as people sharing their opinion on how the story is progressing. Keep in mind though, that when you call someone names, use foul language against them, and tell them their stupid (to put it politely) that's not criticism nor is it using freedom of speech or freedom of press. That's using fighting words, something that is illegal in many countries. This type of abuse will not be accepted on any level._

_I hope I didn't depress anyone with that, but I am perfectly serious on the matter. Things will get ugly, and they will get ugly fast if flames are received and most definitely if they are given by the same person multiple times. With all that said let's move to the chapter. Onward! :)_

**That's My Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter Nine**

_Annabeth_

Later that night, we sat around a collapsible table on the main deck, eating and talking quietly; the seven for the quest that is, plus Grover, Tyson and Ella.

Leo's siblings sat at another table, and though we'd offered to push the tables together, they'd declined. Maybe they felt awkward, or maybe it was just second nature for them to stick together, I wasn't sure. But they seemed happy enough so we dropped the subject.

Looking around, I could tell everyone had something on their minds. Leo wasn't as talkative or throwing around as many jokes as usual, his elfish face marked by a pensive frown. Percy was slightly distracted, due to keeping the ship on course; he talked and answered questions when they were thrown his way, yet his mind seemed to be somewhere else mostly. Jason – still rubbing his eyes slightly – was more alert now than earlier after his power nap, but it was obvious his sleep hadn't been peaceful. Piper looked worn out – courtesy of me – though she was awake enough to steal little kisses and share food with Jason; go figure. Hazel still looked freaked out about Nico, if a little calmer than this morning. Frank tried to cheer her up, however it was pretty clear it wasn't working.

The only people at our table who appeared completely calm were Grover, Tyson and Ella. It wasn't surprising, actually.

Grover might've been worried about the satyrs back home, or Juniper, or progress on the protection of the Wild in general in the back of his mind, but tonight he just ate his salad and tin cans happily. Tyson was cheerfully downing peanut butter sandwiches, with Ella nibbling cinnamon buns and quoting portions of a Paula Dean cookbook on the many uses of peanuts and peanut butter.

Just when I thought the night couldn't get anymore dull, mist (a mix of both magic and regular) collected into a shimmering, floating disc in front of us. "An Iris Message," I couldn't help exclaiming.

The others sat up straighter too, a mixture of worry and excitement clouding their expressions. On the one hand, this could be a sign from the gods that we'd been waiting for, but then it could've just as easily been a message from either camp that something horrible had happened. You know the old saying, 'you could feel the tension building'? Well, at the moment that building of tension was probably the size of the Empire State Building – including the six hundredth floor.

The Mist finally became a somewhat solid form and the image became clear. On the other side of the message, it was dark and only the faint glow of the Mist illuminated the person's dirt smeared, tired face. My heart skipped a beat.

"Nico!" Hazel cried.

Her gold eyes shone with tears of relief of seeing her brother, but the worry she'd had as well intensified as she took in his appearance. "Are you alright? Where are you? I had a dream about you and I was so worried…"

Nico smiled tiredly. "Hey, you know me, I'm fine." This statement was punctuated by a watery coughing fit. When he finally regained his breath, he tried to smile again but it came out as more of a grimace. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he assured us.

I wasn't convinced, and I got the feeling nobody else was either. "Nico, where are you? We'll come and get you," I said.

Nico frowned a little. "Where am I? Good question, I'll be sure and ask next time they check on me." He said quietly, mostly to himself, but the sarcasm was unmistakable.

"Next time who checks on you?" Percy spoke up.

Nico gave a nervous laugh, "oh, hey Perce. Um, you're not still mad at me about the whole 'I don't know you' bit, right?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "It's kind of hard to stay mad at you – even if you did lie to my face and keep me in the dark," he muttered the latter half of the sentence under his breath. He shook his head and got back on topic, "Now who's got you? Gaea?"

Nico nodded weakly. "Yeah, it's the old earth girl. I don't know where I am – there was an ambush… I, I couldn't fight them all off," he bit his lip, his eyes distant like he couldn't quite remember the details. "I, I was searching for the gates… I got as far as this little Italian village north of Rome. Bianca, Bianca would've liked it here – and my mother…"

His lack of attention and wandering thoughts had me concerned. Nico was usually a get-to-the-point type of guy. If he was straying off topic this much… gods, I didn't even want to think about the implications of how hurt he really was.

"Nico," Hazel spoke up, "it was your mother that sent me the dream about you. She's worried and so is Dad. She doesn't want you to give into Gaea, but she's afraid…" she trailed off, unable to finish.

"Yeah, I've been seeing a lot of my mom too…" Nico murmured, mostly to himself. I wondered what he meant, but decided there wasn't time to ask.

"Nico, can you tell us the name of the village you were in when you were captured? We can start looking for you there." I said, a plan beginning to form in my mind.

Nico closed his eyes for a moment to think. His face was grimy and covered in sweat and his hair was dirty. Aside from that, he just looked exhausted – physically, emotionally, and mentally as well. The fact that he'd found the strength, or even the means, to contact us showed how strong he was. Sometimes I forgot that he was fourteen now and not the ten year old, goofy kid we'd rescued from a military school in Maine.

"_Tempio de Apollo_," Nico said at last, opening his eyes. "I was in _Tempio de Apollo_. The trail to the gates led me there – I was getting close, I could feel it. I'd stopped for the night to sleep in a small hostel. I heard noises out in the alley outside my room. I went to check it out and…" he trailed off again.

I was sure by his tone that he probably remembered, but was too embarrassed to continue – or maybe he was just too tired to give us the details. "Alright Nico, just hang tight, we'll be there soon. It will be a few days, maybe a week at the most."

"We can't wait that long – we have to get there now!" Hazel insisted, looking desperate.

"Hazel, we need supplies," Piper reasoned, speaking up for the first time. "We need to stop at camp, and we still need to travel to the other places where the torch has burned before. It will take time, but we'll get there as soon as we can."

Percy added his assurances as well, "I don't like waiting anymore than you do, but it's necessary."

"But…" Hazel bit her trembling lip, and I felt my heart go out to her. If it was any of my siblings in danger, or gods forbid Percy, I'd feel the same way as Hazel. But we couldn't rush into something. We needed time to prepare.

"Hazel, don't worry about me," Nico told her. I was disconcerted to realize that his voice was fainter than it had been; his breathing more labored.

He broke into another bout of coughing. When it subsided, he forced his hoarse voice to continue. "I'll be fine. Gaea's only been giving me nightmares – she hasn't hurt me, and she can't. She knows I'm too valuable. I'll be okay."

Frank put his arm around Hazel's small shoulders, rubbing her arms as she blinked rapidly. "Okay, Nico. But you better be alive when we get there, or I swear to Pluto I will come down to the Underworld and pummel your soul myself! The Dirae's will look like docile lambs compared to me," she promised, holding back tears.

Nico gave a weak chuckle. "That's my girl. I'm so proud of you…" He looked up suddenly, face riddled with panic. "I have to go, I think someone is coming. I'll see you soon – Frank," he added.

The son of Mars looked up expectantly.

"You take care of my sister. Trust me when I say, you don't want my soul haunting you for the rest of your life." Frank gulped, but nodded solemnly.

With that, the mist evaporated and Nico was gone.

_Frank_

After Nico di Angelo's message, nobody had much of an appetite left, except for Tyson and Ella – although Tyson did seem a little worried for Nico's safety. Hazel tried to finish her shrimp gumbo, however I could tell her favorite comfort food wasn't helping much tonight. She left soon afterward. I offered to come with her. She shook her head and said she needed time alone to think, so I let her go.

Percy, though he might've still been annoyed about Nico lying to him – can't blame him if he was – seemed more worried now than anything, as did Annabeth. They talked quietly for several minutes after the Iris Message disappeared, before leaving the table as well.

I watched Percy keep his arm around Annabeth's shoulders, as she kept her arm around his waist while they walked up to the helm for some privacy. Part of me – the selfish part – wondered if Hazel and I would ever be like that, just so comfortable with each other that we could console the other with only our touch.

I shook my head. Now was not the time for those thoughts.

Jason seemed to also be concerned, though perhaps less so than Hazel, Percy or Annabeth. I guess because although he knew Nico, they'd never been especially close friends from what I'd gathered.

Leo seemed to sink further into the depressed funk he'd been in all night. I wasn't sure what was more annoying – him constantly making a joke out of everything, or acting like a mechanical robot. I had to admit, I didn't really hate Leo. He was sort of funny and a genius with machines. I guess what bothered me about him was the way Hazel would look at him when Leo wasn't paying attention.

The hurt, sadness and longing in her face made me… jealous. There, I said it. I was jealous. Hazel had never looked at me like that, at least not that I could remember. I tried to ask why she stared at Leo that way, but every time I did, she denied it or changed the subject. It was driving me crazy. What was it about Leo that produced that kind of reaction in her? What did he have that I didn't? Okay, now I was starting to sound like a whiny kid. I needed to focus on something else.

Piper was addressing us, trying to cheer us up I guess. Her charmspeak did seem to lift my emotions, but because I knew she was doing it, the effect wasn't as profound. Besides, I knew Piper was trying to help, but right then I didn't want to lose my feelings or have them manipulate – though I was sure the Venus (Aphrodite, sorry) girl meant well. I just needed to channel them in a more constructive manner.

I left the table and went to a lower deck that had been specifically designed for sparring and practice fighting. There was a row of targets for archery against one wall, spare swords, arrows, bows, daggers, spears and shields in various bins against another wall, with dummies set up around the room. Portholes faced the river we were traveling on to my left, and I could see the sun setting behind the tree line. It made the river look like orange caramel and the sky as pink as bubblegum.

I grabbed a bow and quiver of arrows and took my stance. I notched five at a time, took aim and fired. They all hit the bull's eye on the first target. I repeated the process until all the targets were filled to maximum capacity with arrows, looking like round porcupines.

I was still feeling a bit down, so I reluctantly grabbed a sword and started hacking at a dummy, gutting and disemboweling it numbly. Soon, all the dummies were destroyed and I was slightly out of breath, sweating profusely, but my mood had mellowed considerably. I was still out of it though I _was_ a little bit better.

"You always had a way with a sword, even if you didn't like using it," a voice said behind me in amusement.

I turned. Hazel stood in the doorway, her golden eyes were a little red and her brown curly hair was in disarray. In other words, she looked beautiful.

"Hey, how are you doing?" I know it sounded lame, but what else do you say to the girl that just learned her brother is being held captive by one of the most powerful immortal beings in the universe? Yeah, I wouldn't know either.

Hazel shrugged and sniffed, rubbing her nose. "I'm okay. Worried, obviously, and a little frustrated, but I'll live."

I nodded. I could understand the feeling. When my Mom was overseas, it drove me crazy. I was so worried something would happen to her – which unfortunately it did – and I would be powerless to stop it – which I was. It killed me I couldn't protect her, couldn't be there with her in the end. I couldn't even do that for Grandmother, who I was sure had probably passed on by now, even though I'd seen her escape our burning mansion in Toronto.

"We'll find him, Hazel, don't worry." I tried to put as much confidence in my voice as I could, but the assurance felt and sounded hollow, even to me.

I couldn't promise her Nico would be fine. I had no idea if the kid would live another night, let alone a week. Still, I wanted to help her any way I could – even if it meant making a promise I couldn't keep.

Hazel smiled softly. "I know we will. He'll be fine – if he's not, he knows I meant what I said. The afterlife will be a living nightmare for him if he gets there before he's old and wrinkly."

I laughed. That was Hazel. Beautiful, powerful, strong, and scarily violent – no wonder Grandmother had told me not to let her go. She was perfect. "Technically, he is old – even if he isn't wrinkly."

Hazel laughed. It was a sound as soft as a spring rain, and sweeter than the cookies Grandmother used to make on Chinese New Year. "True, though I can't talk either." She looked up, and our eyes met.

A heartbeat passed, then two.

"Well, it's getting late. I need to get some sleep if I'm going to be of any use tomorrow. Percy and Annabeth think we'll be arriving at Camp Half-Blood sometime around midmorning." She turned to leave.

"Hazel," I called, needing to keep her here for just a moment longer. She stopped and looked back over her shoulder. I paused, unsure what to say. "It – it'll be okay, you know? Nico's a tough guy. He'll be fine."

Hazel gave me a sad smile, like the look she'd given me when I gave her my piece of firewood; serious, perhaps a little tender, but incredibly brave. "I know, Frank. I know."

She left after that, leaving me alone with my cut up dummies. Yet, I was happy, more than I had been even after working out my frustrations. Seeing Hazel smile just made my day – like nothing was ever wrong.

I remember something Mom told me once. That how making others happy brought the most joy. I was sure that was true in and of itself – with Hazel though, it was ten times better. I felt like I could fly. Grinning like an idiot I set to work cleaning up my mess before going to bed. That night, I dreamt of Hazel's smile and her beautiful laugh.

_Hazel_

I almost dreaded going to sleep that night, afraid of what I might see. After what felt like hours of tossing and turning, but was probably only a few minutes, my eyes slipped closed unbidden.

At first, my dream started pleasant enough. It was that day in New Orleans, back in the spring when I'd first realized my gift. It was maybe March, or April perhaps, and Mardi Gras was just starting. I sat with my mother and we had a picnic behind our apartment. I was drawing happily as jazz music filled the streets and kids ran around with bead necklaces. Marie Levesque was sipping champagne. We were celebrating. But something was wrong with the memory, something amiss.

I looked up, and realized the woman sitting with me wasn't my mother. It was Maria di Angelo. The Italian woman smiled softly at me. "Hello, Hazel dear."

"Mrs. di Angelo," I greeted wearily.

Maria frowned faintly, "don't be frightened of me child. I'm not here to harm you."

"But you're here to tell me what's happening to Nico, to help me find him, aren't you? That's almost as bad." I argued, dread building in my stomach.

"I am here to help you save my son, that is true," the older woman agreed. She took a small sip from her glass and looked down the street, her gaze sad. "My boy is a great fighter and a powerful demigod, but I fear he cannot last much longer. The goddess Iris had mercy on him, granting his wish to see you and his friends again. But such wishes are rare. I do not think Nico will be able to contact you the same way again."

"But if I can't reach him, how will I find him?" I asked, feeling panic begin to rise in my chest. Nico might not have come from the same womb and was technically older than me, from another era all together really, but he was still my brother. I couldn't lose him. Not like I'd lost my mother.

"My Nico has always been very resourceful, and I think that you share this quality with him. It is a little-known fact that one of the strengths of being a child of Hades is ingenuity – the ability to think on your feet. You will find a way, Hazel Levesque, just as you found a way to keep your mother out of Gaea's clutches and out of the Fields of Punishment." Maria assured me, smiling softly and a little sadly, as she always did.

Somehow, I could suddenly understand how my father (well, his Greek aspect at least) fell for this woman. She was kind and smart, but she also knew her own mind and she knew what needed to be done to accomplish her goals – even if it meant she might not be as happy as she could've been taking the easy route. It explained why she didn't want to be hidden away from Jupiter's (Zeus, whatever) wrath, to have her children be raised in the Underworld.

I looked down at the picnic spread on the lawn, at my childish drawing of a beautiful costumed woman I saw earlier that morning, preparing a parade float in her elaborate dress and mask. I looked anywhere rather than Maria di Angelo's face. How could she expect me to know how to save Nico? I didn't save my mother – she died anyway. The only thing I gave her was an indifferent afterlife – something I knew Queen Marie really didn't deserve. What could I do? I was just a cursed daughter of Pluto.

"Do not think that way, my child," Nico's mother scolded me lightly. "You are stronger than you think. Have faith and hope. You will succeed, for Rome, for the Olympians, for Nico."

"How?" I asked miserably.

She smiled gently, apologetically. "I can't give you the answers, Hazel. The Fates forbid it – not even the gods can give you the solution to every problem, it would just negate those answers. You will have to figure it out on your own, but don't fret. Things will work out if you follow your heart, trust your friends, and fight for the things you love.

"Isn't that a line from an old James Garner movie?" I asked and then mentally rolled my eyes at myself. Gods I hated ADHD.

Maria chuckled. "Perhaps it is. However, that is the best advice I can give you. Use it wisely my girl."

I noticed the edges of my dream were getting dark and I knew my vision would end soon. "Wait! What about Nico? Is he alright, right now? Will he live long enough for us to rescue him?"

"If I answered every question you had, what would the point of life be? Besides, it was time you woke up dear. Your friends will need you soon." Maria reached out and caressed my cheek, my vision went dark, and the last thing I heard was her faint whisper.

"_Wake up…"_

PJOxPJOxPJO

_Phew! Done! :) I do have to apologize to anyone who thinks the story is dragging – I promise that the action will be picking up soon, but I want to set up a few things beforehand. Next chapter will be camp half-blood (which could lead to some interesting confrontations between the Romans and Greeks :cough: hint :cough, cough: ;)) and then we'll be sailing across the Atlantic to England, where some very interesting adventures will happen. Well, I think that's enough teasers for now lol ;) Now that the chapter's done, I want to make some story recommendations for you guys that I think are really cool B-)_

_If you guys are looking for PJO stories that feature the characters reading the actual books (usually so that the Roman kids can learn about Percy's history) I've got four that I really enjoy – "Learning About Each Other: The Lightning Thief" by penguinlover250, "The New Kids Read The PJO Books" by Commander Ael, "Reading the Lightning Thief" and "Reading the Sea of Monsters" by mythologyfreakgirl._

_A great, non-Mary Sue PJO story with Percy having a sister is "The Lightning Thief" by kimbyruleztheplanet. It started as a different story, but it's being rewritten now and it's really great :)_

"_Beautiful Secret" by PixieGirl13 is a really awesome story that happens between "The Sea of Monsters" and "The Titan's Curse". Really well written, and while the writing may not necessarily be very much like R.R.'s, PixieGirl13 has a great writing voice all her own – she also makes some pretty rockin' Danny Phantom fics, so check those as well if you're into the series :D_

"_Love Me, Hate Me, Everything in Between" by shadowinthedark13 is a collection of drabbles, short stories, one shots and other various pieces centered mostly on emotions but also some themes. This may not make sense, but trust me, it's a great story and definitely worth reading through. My favorites are some of the ones with Katie/Travis, Silena/Beckendorf and Percy/Annabeth :)_

_Last one I want to recommend is "Son of a Hunter" by RWBRyan. The story is about how Artemis has a son and he must prove himself to be a true descendant of the goddess of the hunt. I know what you're thinking, 'Artemis can't have kids – she hates men!' ah, but with the technology of today, she doesn't need a guy to have a kid, now does she? ;) Anyway, if you read it with an open mind, I can tell you right now that you'll enjoy it :D_

_Alright, that's all from me this week – peace out! :)_


	10. Chapter 10

_Um, hey guys, how was your weekend? *ducks as a laptop sails past head* Yeah, I probably deserved that, considering how late this update is. Sorry guys! :blush: My weekend has been crazy, especially with finals coming up and last-minute projects needing to get done :p Not only that, but my laptop's been on the fritz – fortunately daddy fixed it so we're good now :) (And yes I'm almost a legal adult and I still call my father 'daddy' so sue me ;-p)._

_In other, more enthusiasm-worthy news – I GOT A CAR! :D:D:D Cue girlish squeal worthy of Aphrodite… now: Aaaaaaahhhhhh! Okay, done ;D First car, whoo! His name is Thunder – just looks like a boy, idk – and he's a 1995, 2.5 Turbo 300D Mercedes Benz and he is beautiful :sniff: I'm so proud! :D_

_Anyhoo, also excitingly, we passed the 100 review mark for this story, and the hundredth reviewer was the lovely Books111 – whoo! Congrats ;D And now, time for the anonymous reviewers to become famous ;) :cough: sort of, not really :cough, cough:_

_Lubi – it will, but I haven't definitively decided what I'm going to make it out to be; once I do, I will start adding in little hints to the story of what it could be, R.R. style of course ;) Until then, I'm about as clueless as you lol xD Thanks again for reviewing, hun :)_

_Nissi1216 – Wow, that's a new one lol haven't heard it expressed that way before, but thank you very much :) I think I will look it up – I've been looking for a good PJO fic, thanks B-)_

_AceOfSpadeZz – Thank you, I appreciate the support :) Don't worry, I couldn't hurt Nico… too much ;) There will be more of both coming up so keep a lookout :D_

_Also, one minor note, TrueImage26 pointed out that Frank lived in Vancouver not Toronto, so sorry guys my bad :blush: You know I really should look up stuff like that before I go off half-cocked, but well, I hate research so… :sheepish grin: lol anyway, thank you for pointing it out and I will try to be better about checking first before I post. In addition, remember guys that the poll for your favorite PJO or HoO couple will close in one week. Oh, and on a side note, do you think I need shorter author notes? Let me know. Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's get to chapter ten. As always, onward! :D_

**That's My Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter 10**

_Hazel_

_Wake up…_

"Hazel! Hazel, wake up! We've landed," an insistent voice said piercing my sleep filled mind as they shook me awake.

My eyes flew open and I sat bolt upright, smacking the person leaning over me right in the head. We both grabbed our foreheads and groaned. "Ouch," I muttered.

"Yeah, no duh," the other person retorted. I looked up in surprise at Piper McLean's grimacing face.

The last person I'd expected to see this morning waking me up was the pretty Venus girl who'd apparently captured Jason's attention. So far, we had hardly spoken to each other the last couple of days we'd traveled from California, though there hadn't been a clear reason why. Though wary still of the Greeks with the exception of Percy, I didn't really harbor any dislike for the girl, I just didn't know what to talk to her about.

Admittedly, there was something about Piper (like with any Venus girl) that was slightly intimidating; holding a poise and confidence that went beyond physical beauty. You had to notice her, it was impossible not to. Even if she wore a Where's Waldo costume, you'd still be able to pick her out of a crowd.

"Are you okay?" Piper asked, and I realized I'd been staring.

"Sorry, just thinking," I mumbled. I rubbed my eyes, hoping to clear the cobwebs and the dread that Nico's mom had filled me with. She thought I could save her son, but he couldn't even contact us again and I had no idea how to find him. I was just one kid, what could I do?

"You seemed like you were having a nightmare," Piper observed. "Did you get another vision of your brother?"

I grimaced, "No, just a message from his mom. She expects me to save him."

Piper nodded. "It's, hard," she began tentatively, "when adults expect you to do something you're not sure of; when they think you should be able to handle everything responsibly and not fail. It's a lot of pressure." She sounded like she was speaking from experience.

"Yeah, I guess so," I agreed, getting out of bed to get dressed.

Piper leaned against the wall as I disappeared into my cabin's bathroom to pull on fresh pants and a shirt. "You shouldn't be afraid, Hazel," the Venus girl said eventually. "I mean, we're all a little scared, but you're a daughter of the Big Three – you're super powerful, you'll find him."

I gave an unladylike snort that would've made the nuns at St. Agnes hit my hand with a ruler. "Yeah, so everyone keeps telling me. Lot of good being a daughter of Pluto does. All I can do is cause precious jewels to burst from the ground."

Piper gave me a wry look, "yeah, and all I can do is make people listen to me. You shouldn't doubt yourself Hazel – I haven't known you for long, but you seem pretty powerful even excluding your godly parent."

I frowned. "How?"

Piper shot me a wink. "Girls have power. You know some people in camp don't take the Aphrodite kids seriously, and in some ways I don't blame them. Most of my siblings sit out activities and focus on their makeup and getting couples together – honestly I don't approve, but even a senior counselor can't always control her cabin, even with my ability. The point is, people don't take us seriously, but they fail to remember something about our mother."

"What's that?"

"Do you know the story of Aphrodite's birth?" Piper asked, and I shook my head. "When Kronos, er Saturn, castrated his father Oranos, or Caelus, the pieces fell to the sea, mixing from the sea foam and Aphrodite was born; in a way, she's the oldest of the Olympians, Kronos' half sister and Zeus' aunt."

I let that sink in for a moment. Venus was my godly aunt? That was kind of weird to think about, even more so than the god of the Underworld being my father.

The Cherokee girl went on, "My mom once told me that, 'love is one of the greatest driving forces of the universe'. It was love that sparked the Trojan War, and it was that war that allowed Troy to sail to Italy and found the race that would become Rome. It was all because of my mom. Gives you quite an appreciation for the lady when you think about it that way, huh?" She gave me a lopsided grin.

I nodded. "That's great, but I don't understand what it has to do with me."

"You love your brother, right?" She asked.

"Of course! Aside from Frank, he's my whole world. We're all we have in the world," I felt a little sad at the thought. Were all of Pluto's children so lonely? Did we all have such bad luck?

"Then you'll find him," she assured me.

I opened my mouth to protest that I didn't know how, when Piper put a hand on my shoulder. Standing next to each other, I realized she was a little taller than me, like Annabeth. However, we shared a similar bone structure – thin and small, but the grip of her hand and the muscles of her arms said we that she was also pretty tough despite first appearances. Like me.

"Love will always find a way. If you love Nico, you'll find him, trust me." She smiled, her multicolored eyes twinkling.

I found myself returning the smile. I'd never been fond of the goddess of love before – after all, she'd been giving me grief in the love department with Frank for a long time. But looking at her daughter, who believed so much in love that she was guaranteeing I would complete an impossible task, I couldn't help thinking that maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

"Thanks Piper, that means a lot," I said.

Piper grinned. "I'm glad I could help. Ever need any advice on love, or how to smack someone around, I'm your girl," she laughed.

"I'll keep that in mind," I replied dryly.

Just then, above us there was the sound of a big commotion coming from the top deck. "Uh, maybe we should check that out?" I offered nervously.

Piper nodded, her uneven braids bobbing. "Good idea."

We ran up to the top deck, emerging to see utter chaos around us – though not the kind you'd expect. When Octavian talked about Greek demigods and their camps, he always painted the picture of savages with no sense of civilized behavior and total pandemonium (whatever that meant). Now, granted, there were around two hundred kids – varying in age from eight to maybe nineteen – swarming around the ship and making a lot of noise, but it wasn't angry shouts or catcalls, it was like a celebration. A moment later, I realized why.

Standing in the midst of the crowd was Percy Jackson, their Praetor of sorts, being thumped on the back and hugged and high-fived like crazy. Two seconds later, some big, strong looking kids about Frank's size lifted Percy onto their shoulders and the whole camp cheered in a more uniformed manner.

They shouted, "Percy! Percy! Percy!" It was like being back on the Field of Mars after Percy slew the giant Polybotes. Percy's face, much like last time, was grinning even as he turned as red as a ruby. Clearly, he was well loved here.

After awhile, Annabeth and several other senior campers managed to calm the camp down until Percy was back on his feet. Frank appeared by my side as I watched Percy laugh and joke with a few people, who stayed behind to exchange a few words before they left as well. Eventually, it was just Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Grover, Tyson, Ella and a handful of older campers left standing by the end of the gangplank of the ship.

Piper smiled took a deep breath and let it out in a whoosh. "It's good to be home, if only for a few hours." She glanced at me – then at Frank who had shyly taken my hand – and grinned. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go check up on my siblings; have to make sure that Drew didn't take over from Michael and Lacy while I was gone. No way in Hades, am I letting that brat run the cabin while I'm gone!" With that cryptic remark, Piper dashed down the gangplank and disappeared over a hill.

"She's weird," Frank said once the Venus girl was gone.

I laughed, thinking of our conversation this morning. "I think she's nice."

"Oh yeah, sure, she's nice… but still weird." Frank replied and I gave him a playful shove.

"Come on, Zhang, let's go be sociable." I pulled him along beside me, following the route Piper had taken to the beach we'd landed on. We walked to over to the group surrounding Percy. I felt my shyness flair up at all the people, even if it wasn't the whole camp.

Aside from everyone who had traveled with us, there was a skinny girl with frizzy red hair and emerald green eyes wearing a baggy I Heart New York tee shirt and a ratty pair of jeans, both of which were covered in little doodles made with markers, and strangely she wasn't wearing shoes. She looked friendly enough, but something about her eyes (or maybe the ancient, powerful aura that hung around her), something, made me think of Octavian. It wasn't a pleasant comparison.

There was also a big girl with stringy brown hair pulled back with a red bandana and a harsh face wearing combat boots, camouflage pants, orange camp shirt and a leather jacket – there was something mildly familiar about her, though I didn't know what. Next to her was a broad shouldered Hispanic boy with short dark hair, a sword sheathed at his side. They seemed to be an item, though how I could tell, I wasn't sure.

Lastly, I saw a tall, lean boy with blonde hair, blue eyes and a brilliant smile, a bow and quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder; I couldn't help thinking that he looked a lot like a statue I passed daily doing chores at Camp Jupiter. Which god was that statue of? I couldn't remember. It had something to do with archery.

"Glad you guys are up," Percy greeted us with a grin, his cheeks still mildly pink. "We don't have a lot of time here, but I want you guys to at least get a quick tour."

"Sounds cool," Frank agreed. I nodded and smiled, feeling shy around the group gathered.

"Percy, aren't you forgetting something?" Annabeth prompted.

Her boyfriend screwed up his face in confusion, "um, no?" He said, sounding unsure.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I swear your head is chock-full of sand," she muttered, then said louder, "Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, meet Rachael Dare, Clarisse La Rue, Chris Hernandez and Will Solace. Guys, meet Frank and Hazel." She introduced all of us, Percy looking properly abashed for forgetting to do so beforehand.

"Nice to meet you both, and thanks for keeping Percy in one piece," Rachael, the ginger girl, said first grinning happily. Her smile was so different than Octavian's – not an ounce of malice or cunning to be seen anywhere – that I was ashamed I'd ever compared them.

I smiled, "well, believe me, it wasn't easy. This guy should be on suicide watch." I joked, jerking my thumb at an indignant Percy.

"Hey, who fought off that army of shadow spirits so you could fight the giant, and jumped into a freezing cold ocean to save your sorry butts? That's right, me!" Percy retorted, folding his arms.

I maturely stuck out my tongue. "And who had to help you swallow down green tea and wheat germ when you had a mental breakdown? That's right, me," I shot back good naturedly.

He rolled his eyes but grinned. "Touché, Levesque."

"Wheat germ?" Will asked, wrinkling his nose.

"Shadow spirits?" Annabeth echoed, glaring at Percy who must've forgotten that detail.

"Don't ask," Frank cut in.

Clarisse gave him a long look, eyeing his stature up and down. "Let me guess, son of the war god?"

Frank looked a little startled. "Uh, yeah, Mars. How did you…?"

She stuck out a huge, calloused hand. "I'm a daughter of Ares. It's not hard to recognize godly kin, even if you do have a baby face."

Frank took the hand but frowned distastefully at the insult. His looks had always been a sore spot. "Gee, thanks," he said sarcastically.

"No problem," Clarisse grinned, showing off crooked teeth.

"That's not even the best part about him, Clarisse," Percy cut in, trying to smother a grin. "He's also a descendant of Poseidon."

Clarisse's smile disappeared real fast. "You're kidding?"

"Nope," Percy replied cheerfully. "Technically I'm Frank's great, great, great…" he paused in puzzlement for a moment, counting out the 'greats' on his fingers. "Uh, several more greats, uncle," he finally said, giving up on figuring it out.

"Oh great, just what we needed, another kid of barnacle beard," Clarisse muttered, ignoring how the sound of the sea beating against the shore grew louder at that.

Frank sent Percy a mock glare, like '_great, first time meeting my Greek family, and you make them hate me. Thanks a lot._' Percy gave him a sheepish smile in return. Whoops.

"Not that this isn't interesting," Annabeth cut in, "but we have a time schedule to keep. I've got to talk to my siblings and see if they've received any word from Mom."

Will shook his head. "Not likely, not even my dad has spoken to me or my brothers and sisters. Apollo isn't like that normally; he even missed sending a gift to one of my brothers for his birthday over the weekend. Zeus is keeping a tight lock on the Olympians – nothing in or out except for claiming demigods."

Ah, so that's why Will looked like the statue. His father was Apollo, the god of archery (which explains the bow and quiver, weapons that most Romans considered cowardly), music, art, poetry, and the sun. It made sense.

What I couldn't figure out is why they talked about hearing from their godly parents like it was supposed to be a regular occurrence. The most my dad had done to acknowledge me – aside from the gifts on my thirteenth birthday – was tell Death not to send my soul back to the Underworld. Not exactly a warm and loving relationship.

The Greek demigods all dimmed a little at Will's words. It was like they knew the information already but they were hoping something would change soon. I'd have to ask Percy about it later. There was something I was missing.

"Well, it won't hurt to ask," Annabeth said eventually. "Anyway, like I said, I've got stuff to do. Rachael," she turned to the girl expectantly. "Have the Hunters arrived?"

Jason perked up at this, and I remembered that his older sister was a Hunter – whatever that was. I'd never gotten the details of what that meant. Another thing I'd have to ask about.

Rachael shook her head. "You missed them. They had been here for a week. Then yesterday morning they received some cryptic orders from Artemis. She sent them on another hunt, somewhere far from here, but I don't know where. We haven't heard from them since."

Annabeth groaned in frustration. "I'm gonna kill Thalia when I see her next. I _told_ her to wait for us!"

Rachael shrugged helplessly. "Artemis is the only god who's had any real contact with us lately – did you think Thalia was going to jeopardize that by ignoring her? Not likely."

"Still…" Annabeth frowned, her brow wrinkling as it always did when she was thinking. After a moment, she shrugged as if dismissing a thought.

"Okay, I think that Leo, the Hephaestus kids, and Ares cabin should tag team to load up the ship with supplies. Will, if you could round up any of your siblings to help out in addition, we'd appreciate it – we've got a deadline to keep." Will dipped his head in acquiescent. Leo and Clarisse nodded, and along with Chris and Will, vanished over the dunes of the beach to carry out the order.

"Rachael, I need you to talk to Ella here, you've got some things to discuss – yes, Tyson you can go with them," the blonde girl added as Tyson's brown eye turned pleading. The three of them disappeared as well. I wondered why Rachael needed to talk to Ella, they didn't seem like much of a pair to me. My list of questions for Percy just kept growing and growing.

"I need some time to think, call me when we're ready to leave," Jason said, shoving his hands in his pockets before he turned and left. He'd been kind of moody lately.

When he was with Piper, it wasn't so bad and he was more relaxed and happy. But when she was absent, his mood would grow more melancholy and brooding. I knew he was thinking of Reyna when that happened. I'd guessed that they'd 'broken up', even though they'd never really been a couple. Clearly, Jason was still torn up about what happened. Although I think he thought it was the right decision, it was still hard on him. Reyna too from what I'd seen.

"Okay, that leaves you three," Annabeth said contemplatively. "Percy, how do you feel about playing tour guide?"

Percy grinned. "You don't have to ask twice." Annabeth smiled, gave him a quick kiss then ran off to complete her errands. He gave Frank and me a wry look, "ready to see my version of the mythical world?"

Frank laughed. "Why not?"

I nodded. "Let's go."

We climbed the hill and all I could say was, "Jeepers."

"Whoa," Frank agreed.

"Guys," Percy swept his hand to encompass the whole valley in front of us, "welcome to my home."

Unlike Camp Jupiter which was run like a military institute and looked like something out of a history book, Camp Half-Blood looked like a normal summer camp – with the exception of the sword arena, lava rock wall, chariot race track and Greek buildings. It was amazing in its own way, totally unique. Judging by the proud look on Percy's face, it was home to a lot of demigods; somewhere around two hundred kids ranging from about eight to nineteen roamed the camp. It looked so inviting and fun.

"Come on, let's get this tour started. We'll start with the Big House," Percy said, leading us towards a huge four story mansion, painted blue with a red roof and a rooster weather vane.

"The Big House?" Frank asked curiously.

"It's sort of like the Principia, our head quarters," Percy explained. As we walked, campers called out greetings to him, stuff like 'good to have you back,' 'missed you Percy', and 'hey, you didn't die. Awesome!'. I guess Juno was right – Percy was the perfect replacement for Jason. He was a leader here as much as at Camp Jupiter, and it seemed that everyone liked and respected him.

After seeing the Big House and meeting Chiron (I still had trouble believing that centaurs could be good, but the hero trainer was pretty cool), we looked at the canoe lake, took a quick tour of Rachael Dare's cave (apparently she was a mortal with good sight and the camp's Oracle, which explained Percy asking about one back at Jupiter), saw the arena, the open air dining pavilion (Frank asked what they did when it rained, causing Percy to laugh), the archery range, the woods, and finally we came to the cabins.

There were a little over twenty of them, with only one that actually looked like a regular cabin, the rest were decorated so bizarrely it was making me dizzy. One glowed gold, one silver. One had lightning bolts across the door. One had peacock feathers engraved on it.

One was built like a bank in stainless steel, where Leo and his siblings were hanging out and checking on things. One was pink with lace curtains in the window, where I saw Piper standing on the porch arguing with someone with long black hair. One had barbed wire and a boar's head over the door, which Frank seemed to be attracted to for some strange reason. One was low and long like a bunker, built out of abalone and seashell, and that Percy seemed relieved to see.

At the end of the line was a cabin made of black stone, skull and crossbones over the doorway and torches on either side of the door that burned with green fire. I couldn't explain it, but I felt… compelled to go closer.

"Hazel? Where are you going?" Frank asked as I changed direction.

"I just want to check something out," I murmured distractedly.

Percy looked up, his face going carefully blank as he watched me walk towards the cabin. Something in his eyes said he wasn't going to stop me. I didn't take the time to think about that.

I walked up the steps of the cabin, put my hand on the door and pushed it in. The inside was painted with black walls edged with gold at the top, the floor was a warm dark cherry wood, and the beds were covered in black sheets. The only artificial lights in the room were more torches with green fire. It was very cozy and kind of comforting, like how my dark room in New Orleans was.

"Whose cabin is this?" I asked, turning around. Percy and Frank had followed me to the foot of the steps.

"This is the cabin for the children of Hades – Nico lives here when he's in the area." Percy looked sad, even as he tried to keep his emotions blank – no doubt for my sake.

I gave him a sad smile. I looked over my shoulder into the cabin, seeing one of the beds was messier than the others. "Uh, guys? You go on ahead. I'm going to hang back for a while."

"You sure?" Frank asked, "We can wait."

"No, it's okay, really." I smiled, "I'll be fine I just need some time alone."

Percy gave me a searching look, then nodded as he apparently was satisfied that I really was okay. "Come on Frank, I'll show you the fastest route to the top of the rock wall. I can even keep you from getting singed by the lava."

He led Frank away and I heard him talking as they disappeared. "Uh, couldn't I just change into a mountain goat or a falcon to get to the top?"

"Well, sure if you want to take the _easy _way out."

Their voices gradually faded, and I stepped back into the cabin, shutting the door. "I think it's time I learned a little more about my dear brother – it might help me find him."


	11. Chapter 11

_What's up guys? :) I hope your week has gone better than mine. Check this, I woke up yesterday morning with a scratchy throat, now it's Saturday night and I've got a stuffy nose, sore throat, and a clouded head. I can barely type cognitively at this point (I seriously just had to stop for about seven seconds to remember how to spell 'cognitively'! :rolleyes:) Ugh, so not a good week for me :p_

_To make it even better, I have a final exam in Psychology, an organic shape drawing to finish and my portfolio to present all on Monday. Then Tuesday I have to take a final quiz online then show up for a class and sit and be miserable as people bather on in pointless persuasive speeches. Thank god after that I'm done with this semester – if I had to go to school on Wednesday as well like my sister, I'd inject myself with a whole bottle of Nyquil and pass out in my room just to avoid it. Oh well, what are you going to do, right? :rolleyes: :p_

_Well, now that I'm done with my pity party, let's move on to the announcements. I bought "The Demigod Files" over the weekend, so if you haven't read it yet, my recommendation is to do so – fast. This thing is great! I especially like the short stories, "Percy Jackson and the Bronze Dragon" and "Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades". So? Go get it! Now! ;D :ahem: Moving on...The poll for your favorite couple in PJO and HoO is now closed. Thanks to everyone who voted :) The results are as follows:  
>First place, Percabeth with 20 votes.<br>Second place, Becklena with 15 votes.  
>Third place, Jasper with 14 votes.<br>Fourth place, Frazel with 13 votes.  
>Fifth place, tie between Juniver and Tylla with 11 votes.<br>Sixth place, Claris with 10 votes.  
>Seventh place, Tratie with 9 votes.<br>Eighth place, Rico with 6 votes.  
>Ninth place, Reyson with 5 votes.<br>Tenth place, tie between Lulia and Lyna with 4 votes.  
>Eleventh place, tie between Tharcy (that one is still eww in my book), Lezal and Daklyn with 3 votes.<br>Twelfth place, tie between Peryna, Rachollo, and Lubeth with 1 votes.  
>And finally in thirteenth place, the least liked couple in PJO or HoO is: Octyne with 0 votes (and thank the gods for that!).<em>

_Anonymous reviews:_

_AceOfSpadeZz – Haha too true ;D I know, kind of sad really :( Don't worry though, she'll find him… eventually ;) Thanks for reviewing!_

_Wizz98 – Thank you very much :) It's coming right now lol See? Look down there *waits for you to scroll down then back up* There it is! ;D_

_Bookworm – Thanks for the encouragement and praise, much appreciated :D I think it's easier not to do a lot of povs switches, although this chapter has quite a few. Lol why would 7,000 pages be a _bad_ thing? Then we get more demigod goodness in one book! xD (I'm still ticked R.R. cut off the last book before the Argo II arrived) lol thanks again and hope you enjoy!_

_Lubi – Thank you :) Don't worry, Percy's coming right up, then we're back to Hazel in a while B-) You'll find out about the Hunters soon enough ;D Ooh, I love teasers! ^_^ Lol glad someone enjoys them, sometimes I just feel like I'm ranting for no reason, which reminds me of that All-Time Low song "Heroes" for some strange reason haha Thanks :D I am too, obviously lol Oh yes, Thunder is a total car-babe magnet xD He's my gorgeous baby and I don't mind bragging about it! ;) Thanks again for reviewing!_

_Thanks for reviewing, alerting, favoriting, and just in general for reading guys :) You're all awesome and make this fic worth writing, so thanks. As always, onward! B-)_

**That's My Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter 11**

_Percy_

I don't know why I decided to leave Hazel alone. It just felt right. Now, I know what you're thinking, 'you left an emotionally strung out girl by herself on a feeling?'. Well, let's face it – I've done crazier things on a feeling, so how bad could this turn out right? …Don't answer that.

Anyway, Hazel had been distant the last few days, lost in thought, no doubt sick with worry about Nico. When she saw Nico's cabin – technically the cabin she would stay in if she were Greek instead of Roman – something in her face changed. Something compelled her to go to it. I wasn't sure what, but I wasn't going to argue with, well, whatever _it_ was. In my world, you learn quickly to just go with the flow.

Maybe she thought she could better figure out how to find her brother by looking through his stuff. Maybe she thought she'd get some kind of sign from Hades on how to save his son (I didn't have high hopes on that one). Maybe she just wanted to feel closer to Nico. I really didn't know.

Frank kept looking back over his shoulder, his expression part worried and part perplexed. I wondered how many times my face has looked like that over the years when I was trying to figure out Annabeth and sort my feelings for her. Too many times to count no doubt.

"What's with Hazel?" Frank finally asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

I smiled dryly. "She's your girlfriend, you tell me." Because really, he expected me to have the answers? There's a reason my friends called me 'clueless' and 'seaweed brain' all these years.

Frank gave me a light glare, though he was blushing deeply. "Ha ha, Percy, very funny. Seriously, why is she acting so weird?"

I shrugged. "I don't know," I replied honestly. "I think she's just trying to sort everything out. She wants to find a way to rescue Nico."

"Don't we all?" Frank said.

I nodded. "Sure, of course. I'm as worried as she is."

"You don't look very worried," Frank accused.

"I've gotten good at clamping down certain emotions – anger is still a work in progress, but worry is fairly easy to hide. Worrying isn't going to get us to Nico faster," I explained calmly.

The Roman gave me a skeptical glare.

I rolled my eyes. "Frank, don't give me that look. As much as I'm still peeved at the kid for not telling me who I was, I'm just as worried as Hazel, if not more. Nico is like a little brother to me. I was a part of the team that went to retrieve him and his sister when he was just a kid. Sometimes I still think of him as a naïve ten year old," I sighed.

Frank stopped suddenly. I halted a few paces ahead of him and turned back. We were by the canoe lake again, deserted right now as most kids were either helping with the ship or having activities in other areas.

A couple of naiads wiggled their fingers at Frank and me from the bottom of the lake. While Frank looked shocked I just smiled and waved back. The naiads giggled – or at least their version of giggling, anyone else just thought it was an explosion of bubbles – and ducked beneath the wreckage of an old canoe.

"I missed this place," I remarked fondly.

Call me a sap, but everyone gets homesick once in a while. That reminds me, I need to send an Iris Message to my mom. She and Paul were probably frantic after my, in hindsight, rather cryptic message that I left on the machine at the apartment. Geez, not only did I miss most of the school year, but I also missed Christmas with my mom and stepdad. That really sucked.

Frank's mouth was open like a guppy, his expression pulling me back to the present. He pointed at where the naiads had disappeared. "Those were girls…"

"Yeah," I said slowly.

"They were underwater…"

"Uh-huh," where was he going with this?

"And they waved at us…" Frank finished dumbly, his expression blank.

I laughed, "Yep. I hate to say it, as they've helped me out a lot before, but naiads can be terrible flirts, especially with me," I clapped him on the back, "You too apparently – must be the Poseidon genes. They said 'hi' by the way."

Frank shook his head, like he was trying to clear all thoughts of underwater fish girls. Good luck, buddy. Annabeth was most definitely my girl and there would never be anyone else, but naiads were hard to ignore. Just ask my dad about Tyson's mom.

"Okay, uh, what were we talking about before… uh, you know," Frank gestured at the lake helplessly.

"We were talking about Nico." I offered, holding in a smirk.

"Right," Frank closed his eyes for a second and blew out a short breath. "You, you knew Nico when he was a kid? You brought him to camp?"

I frowned. "Yeah. Me and Jason's sister Thalia… we went with Annabeth, but, well she didn't come back with us from the mission. I don't want to get into it too much. It's a long story. I almost lost her..." I really hated that quest, even if it did get us Nico as an ally and Thalia found the family she'd been missing with the Hunters.

Frank frowned, clearly wanting more details but I didn't really feel like sharing. "You're not going to tell me _anything_?" he asked.

I mulled it over for a second. "Do you know the story of the Titan who holds the sky and keeps it from touching the earth?" I phrased the question carefully.

Frank thought about it. "Atlas? The guy who Hercules tricked to get the Apples of Hesperides?" He guessed.

I nodded and frowned in distaste, "Yeah, him. Atlas was Kronos' army general – he was trying to find a way to get Kronos to reform faster, to force the second Titan War to start early. He used Annabeth as a part of his plan. He used us all, and it very nearly killed her and me. His plans _did_ kill two of our friends."

"How?" Frank persisted.

"Have you ever noticed that streak of gray in Annabeth's hair?" I said, staring at the lake.

"Yeah, it's kind of hard to miss. I mean, not to sound rude, but how many sixteen year olds have gray hair? Even demigod sixteen year olds," Frank said.

I sighed very softly, moving my fingers through my hair. "Ever notice I have one too?"

"Well, yes, but…" Frank frowned, and opened his mouth to go on, then stopped. I think he was beginning to understand what I was talking about.

"Think about the story of Hercules," I said softly. "What did Atlas trick him into doing? Then think of what Hercules did in return to him."

Frank stared at me, his expression horrified. "You held the sky?"

"Not just me. Annabeth did too, and for much longer than me. I still don't know how either of us is alive." I shook my head. "That's not important. What is important is that Nico's sister was one of the two killed while on the quest. For a while, he blamed me for her death. To be honest, I blamed myself too."

I gazed into the tree line of the woods behind the lake, "Nico ran away after that, bitter and alone. He was missing for a whole year. Even after I found him again, he couldn't come back with me to camp. Back then, there had never been a child of Hades in camp, just like there hadn't been a child of Poseidon before me. There wasn't even a cabin for one. It wasn't safe for his parentage to be known, so he wandered. That's why he still doesn't stay here all the time, or at Camp Jupiter. He's been wandering for so long, I don't think he knows how to stay in one place anymore."

"I've felt responsible for Nico ever since he was ten, that's never changed," I said turning back to Frank. "But I've got other things to think about right now. I can't worry for him twenty-four/seven, at least not openly. I know we'll find him. I don't know where or when, but I know we will. In the meantime, I've got a quest to co-lead and six demigods to keep from killing each other."

Frank gaped at me for a long moment, taking in Nico's history, which neither Hazel nor Nico himself had evidently disclosed (part of me wondered if Hazel even knew the whole story). Frank seemed to realize he was staring and looked away for a second.

"I hope he's okay," he offered quietly.

"Yeah, me too," I agreed somberly.

A conch blew in the distance. Frank and I looked towards the dining pavilion where everyone was streaming. "Lunch time, come on."

_Annabeth_

After learning from my siblings that in fact there hadn't been any new signs from the gods – including our mom – just like Will had said, my mood dropped considerably. It seemed the only god that wasn't strictly following Zeus' "Olympus lockdown" rules was Artemis, but with the Hunters MIA that wasn't much help either. Still, I sent a prayer to the moon goddess for help, just in case she was willing to lend a hand – I also asked for a pardon that the quest included boys, which I'm sure she wouldn't like.

With that errand done, I had a handful of others that needed to get done. The first of which, involved seeing Rachel.

I hiked the hill to her cave, glancing around the valley as I went. I could see Percy, Hazel and Frank checking out the canoe lake from this view, as well as Leo, his siblings and the Ares cabin moving things onto the ship. I wondered where Chiron was. I didn't remember seeing him at the beach when we arrived, and he was nowhere to be seen around the Big House, the archery range, or anywhere else from my vantage point. That worried me, but I dismissed the thought for the moment. I'd probably see him at lunch.

Reaching the cave, I pulled back the thick purple drapes and peered into the dark interior. Torches that burned with purple fire which didn't give off any smoke were hung from the wall. Thick grass grew from the bare floor, to the point where it was almost like a natural carpet (the work of some of the satyrs and dryads as a favor to Apollo and his Oracle).

Couches and chairs made of bushes with comfy looking beds of flowers and leaves (also a gift from the satyrs and dryads) were arranged around the room. There was a bed made of similar organic material.

Sheets of paper, jars of paints and pencils, and paintings were strewn everywhere, some hanging from the walls, some half finished. From a small table, a boom box with an iPod docked to it – the only modern, electronic gadget in the whole room – blasted out some alt-rock band's song. Oh yeah, Apollo knew his Oracle well. This was totally Rachel Elizabeth Dare to a T.

"Rachel?" I called.

"Back here!" my friend called back.

I stepped into the cave and walked back into its recesses until I came to a corridor that led to a small, back room. In it were Tyson, Ella and Rachel sitting in a circle on the floor.

Tyson was tinkering with some spare parts, his shoulder occasionally bumping with the shoulder of his crush. Said crush was sitting on a small nest of books and scrolls she was speed reading through, her eyes flipping to different scrolls wildly, trying to drink in every word. Rachel sat with folded legs, watching the harpy intently, her chin propped on her fist, elbow on her knee.

"Rachel?" I prompted.

"Hey Annabeth," She didn't look up. "Come sit."

"Okay," I said slowly, settling down beside her.

The red head still didn't look up. "Where did Percy say they found Ella?"

I blinked. "Portland, Oregon I think. She was under a curse by Phineas the Seer. Percy, Hazel and Frank rescued her and she tagged along as far as Canada."

Ella didn't look up from her scrolls, but her grip on the pages became more strained, the flipping more erratic. She shivered. "No, no, no. Ella doesn't like Phineas. Phineas mean to Ella. Hurt Ella. Starve Ella and sisters. Phineas dead now. Yep, yep, yep. Food for Ella now. Food for Ella's sisters. Cinnamon, yum!" She nodded to herself firmly, and continued flipping pages.

"Did that make any sense to you?" I asked blankly.

I noticed for the first time that Rachel had a lined note book in front of her, which she was scribbling in furiously. "She seems to talk like that all the time. She uses short sentences, straight to the point, and yet a little sketchy in detail. It's almost like Morse Code… but with a lot less beeping or tapping."

I nodded. I'd realized the same thing as well, but I still wondered a few things about how Percy and the others saved Ella. My boyfriend's details on the matter had been vague at best, and that ticked me off a little. He was obviously trying to tone the danger down so I wouldn't worry – which only made me worry more.

"Ella, how did they help you? How did they beat Phineas and break the curse?" I asked carefully.

"Phineas can't see. Phineas blind. Sees big things not small. Chance. Chance is fun for Phineas," Ella replied cryptically, eyes glued to a particularly old scroll that was brittle with age. "Hmm, faded. Words faded. Gods fade. Faded jeans, in this season. Light on the seasoning, not a lot of pepper. Hmm, Ella doesn't like pepper."

Rachel stopped writing and gave me a perplexed look. "Huh?"

"Careful, if your face freezes like that, you'll be stuck looking like Percy for the rest of your life," I teased.

Rachel rolled her green eyes. "Ha ha."

"Hmm," I murmured, stealing the Oracle's pad of paper and pen.

"Hey!" She protested as I made a few notes on a fresh sheet of paper.

"'Blind', 'sees big things not small', 'chance is fun for Phineas'," I muttered, tapping the pen to my chin. "What does that mean?"

"Wasn't Phineas blind in the myth?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, and was gifted with visions as a seer… but then why did Ella say he could see 'big things not small'," I wondered aloud. "Wait… 'chance is fun for Phineas'… Of course!" I exclaimed.

"'Of course', what?" Rachel said in bewilderment.

"Rachel, have you ever tried to use your gift as the Oracle for things aside from prophecies?" I asked.

"Um… you're going to have to be more specific," She told me.

"Have you ever used your abilities in a game like poker? Or something like it involving chance?" I clarified.

"Not really," Rachel frowned, "my gift doesn't work like that. I can't see stuff like that. Ask me for a prophecy, and I can provide. But I don't see small stuff like that."

"Exactly! You can't see the small decisions in life," I said excitedly.

"I don't get what that has to do with anything."

"I swear you and Percy are far too much alike, even if you do have better sight than he does," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "Phineas was the same way, that's what Ella's saying. He could see the 'big things, not the small', so he liked games of chance. That must be how Percy beat him, by exploiting that weakness. The only question is – what was the wager?" I tapped the pen to my chin some more.

"You'll probably just have to ask Percy later," Rachel replied with a shrug.

"More like beat him over the head until the answer comes out – along with all that stupid sand and kelp," I replied in annoyance, looking over my notes.

Rachel barely held in a smirk, but I still caught it.

"Not a word," I warned.

She held up her hands and smiled disarmingly. Looking at her, I was suddenly struck by how much she could look like one of the Hermes campers when they were begging innocence… well, actually, she looked like one in particular.

Suddenly the cave's temperature dropped twenty degrees, the torches dimmed until the light looked like pale lavender, and we could see our breaths.

"What on earth?" Rachel asked, teeth chattering. She hugged herself against the icy coldness of the cave. I was doing the same.

"You think it's one of the gods sending us a sign? Maybe Apollo," I said hopefully. Gods it was freezing!

Rachel shook her head. "Apollo hasn't talked to me since Olympus closed. He answers me when I ask for things – like these scrolls and books that hold prophecies – but other than that, I haven't heard a word. Besides, a freezing cold room is not his style. Suddenly putting me in a skimpy Gucci bikini, showing up in swimming trunks and telling me we're going to the beach in Fiji, that's more his style."

I didn't have time to process that statement, and I wouldn't have had the breath to do so anyway, because I looked up, and all the air seemed to leave the room. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move, I could only stare.

My voice was no louder than a whisper. "What… how… Luke?"

Luke's scar twitched upward as he smiled his face and body as transparent as mist. "Hey, Annabeth," he said.

_Hazel_

Stepping further into the cabin, I looked around curiously. Aside from the décor that would've left any Goth kid insanely jealous, the room was like most of the cabins. Six bunk beds pushed against the walls, a small bathroom and trunks at the end of the bed for personal belonging. But it was evident only a boy lived here.

Only one bed was messy, clothes were strewn across the floor. The bathroom was littered with toiletries like a can of shaving cream and a half empty pack of disposable razors – I didn't even know my brother shaved – and the trunk at the end of the bed was half open. I decided to try the trunk first.

I knelt down and opened it curiously moving aside black shirts, black pants, and even black boxers. Did Nico wear anything but black? I shoved all the clothes out of the way, and dug out a few other random knickknacks. There was a pocket knife made of celestial bronze, a box of wheat cereal (that was a little weird), a small photo album and a beat up shoebox. I pulled the photo album and the shoebox out.

Sitting on Nico's bed, I flipped through the album thoughtfully. There weren't a lot of pictures, and most appeared to have been taken in the last few years, but a handful were black and white and crinkled with age. One was a formal portrait, showing a young eight year old Nico, a little girl of maybe ten with long dark hair and sparkling dark eyes, a tall beautiful woman with short hair and a string of pearls around her neck, and a tall man with his arm around her.

I gasped quietly to myself. The man was a spitting image of Nico – but more importantly he looked like the man who I saw the last night I spent in New Orleans. He was my father and yet not my father. There was something about him that wasn't quite right, but it was so slight that you'd swear they were the same person. In reality they were. The little girl was a dead ringer for the woman, and both they and Nico shared that dark Italian look. This was Nico's family before everything went wrong in his world. Before his mother was killed. Before he and Bianca were forced into hiding for eighty years and they lost their memories.

The saddest part was they looked so happy. Even Hades seemed to be smiling just a little. Nico's eyes didn't have the dark shadow that haunted them now. His sister was alive and well, her face bright with youth and light. Nico's mother looked especially happy, not sad and worried, like how I'd seen her in my dreams.

I shook myself mentally and put the picture down, moving to another. The rest of the old photos showed Nico either with his mother, or his sister, but never alone. The family portrait was the only one with Hades in it.

The newer photos showed Nico first as a carefree ten year old at camp, hanging out with kids who had upturned eyebrows and mischievous grins. Then they showed him as a thirteen and fourteen year old either with Percy, Annabeth, Grover, or another girl with dark hair and punk clothes. One had all of them together. Weirdly enough though, there were no picture of him when he was twelve – like a whole year of his life was missing.

The last one was a picture of the whole camp, with every cabin accounted for, along with many of the fauns, nature spirits and a centaur with scraggly brown hair and a beard. I noticed Nico was standing slightly off to the side, like he felt he didn't quite fit in. I knew the feeling.

Done with the album, I set it aside and opened the shoebox. "What in the Underworld?" I muttered.

Inside the box was a weird assortment of small statuettes and cards. The cards had those weird images on them, the ones that changed the image slightly when you flipped it around – they sure didn't have those back in my day. I pulled out a statue curiously, realizing they were modeled after the Greek gods.

The one I held was supposed to be Athena, wearing full battle armor and an owl on her shoulder. Looking in the box, I saw every Greek god was accounted for – a tiny Zeus with a lightning bolt; a small Poseidon carrying a trident; Dionysus growing a grapevine; Apollo with his lyre; the list went on. All the gods were accounted for, except Nico's and my father. For some reason, Hades was missing.

That was all that was in the box. Just the cards and statues. I moved them aside, just to be sure I hadn't missed anything, but it was totally empty otherwise. I groaned and shoved the box aside.

"Great, that's it! I thought I'd find something that would lead me to Nico – instead I get sad photos of his family and friends, hologram cards and miniature statues of the gods. What good does that do me? Ugh!" I fell back against Nico's pillow in exasperation.

I stared at the ceiling, as if it might actually tell me what I wanted to know. Suddenly a thought occurred to me and I sat up, going back to the newest picture of Nico with his sister. Bianca di Angelo stared back at me, dark eyes peeking out from under a green cap, her arm slung around Nico's shoulders. Something about her – I didn't know what – but something was familiar about her. I'd seen her somewhere before.

But that wasn't possible. Nico said she'd chosen to be reborn. How could I know her? And yet… I knew that I did. The question was, how?


	12. Chapter 12

_Hi guys, I'm alive! xD Seriously though, I've survived this stupid cold, and somehow I've retained my sanity through finals week. For better or worse, the 2011 fall semester for me is over and I'm still functioning. Now I've got a month of winter break ahead of me (college does come with some perks after all ;)) but don't think that means my updates will be more regular or will come more often._

_I've still got a ton of math homework to do for my high school and I've gotta start working more now that I'm out of school for the year – I only ended up retaining a net profit of like fifty-eight dollars after paying my bills and extra stuff for my new car, and now even that is down because I went out with friends the other night._

_Let me give some advice to those of you who are still just kids with no responsibilities outside of school and chores: enjoy childhood or teenhood or whatever you want to call it, because when it ends you wake up one day and realize just how much life is a witch with a B -_- :p Wow, I feel like I ought to bow or something after that speech; I actually sounded sort of wise – how bizarre is that coming from me? :rolleyes:xD_

_Anyway, I have two book recommendations today: "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner (am I the only one that sees the irony in his name?), and "Five Flavors of Dumb" by Antony John (most awesomesauce book ever! You're going to stand up and cheer at the end, I swear to god you will)._

_For the reviewers:_

_AceOfSpadeZz – xD lol um, no, Luke is not here to eat our brains, though that would be friggin' hilarious to write: "and then Luke chomped on Annabeth's head, ate her brain and then she showed up as a ghost next to him and they started fighting over Rachel's brain because it's big and smart and Oracley" xD Yeah… lol thanks for reviewing again – all will be revealed in time ;) – thanks for the compliment too :D_

_Lubi – thanks sweetie, I am feeling a lot better :) lol I try :blush: thanks again, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D_

_Anyway, thanks for sticking with me guys, even though I can't seem to keep a consistent update schedule and my chapters are choppy at best these days. This will probably be a short chapter, as most of my next ideas for this story happen once they leave camp. Oh well, I hope you like it anyway :) Thanks again guys – your support means everything. As always, onward! B-)_

**That's My Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter 12**

_Annabeth_

_Luke's scar twitched upward as he smiled his face and body as transparent as mist. "Hey, Annabeth," he said._

I couldn't move. I tried to. I wanted to say something – anything. I stared at the boy who'd been my first crush. The boy who'd betrayed me so many times. He was the boy who, in the end, had made the right choice and saved not only me but the whole world. Surely, I – Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy – should have been able to come up with a single coherent sentence for this boy; if for no other reason than he was one of my oldest friends.

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. "L-Luke? What are you doing here? _How_ are you here?" For a millisecond, panic swelled inside me.

Luke had betrayed me before in a quest for power, allying himself with the enemy, Kronos. What if he'd chosen Gaea over the Olympians? What if he was here as a tool of Gaea's? Both Jason and Percy had said that Gaea was bringing the worst mortals out of the Underworld to work for her – those that held grudges against the gods. What if Luke had decided redemption wasn't for him after all?

"I'm here as a favor to Hades," Luke replied, his mouth quirking up ever so slightly, like he was holding back an ironic smirk.

I wouldn't blame him if he was. The very idea that Hades would ask a favor of anyone was ridiculous, but a son of Hermes? One who'd nearly destroyed Olympus? That sounded about as likely as me buying a pink-toed tarantula as a pet.

I narrowed my eyes. "What kind of favor?"

"Same old Annabeth – always curious, always asking questions, looking for answers," Luke chuckled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

I noticed that he was dressed the way he used to before he left camp – cutoffs, a tank top with "Camp Half-Blood" written across the front (which I knew despite Luke being made of mist was orange), and sandals. Around his neck was his camp necklace – five beads, the same amount I had the summer Percy came and Luke disappeared. It was half comforting, half disturbing to see him dressed this way, to see his face was more carefree and happy than it had been in the last several years of his life. It reminded me of when I was little, running around the country with a fourteen year old Luke and a twelve year old Thalia – our lives simple, dangerous, but so much fun. My chest ached at the memory.

"You didn't answer my question," I said, my tone hard. I bottled up my emotions for the moment, not wanting Luke to see how much I wanted to run and hug him, even though I knew he'd evaporate from being so close to living flesh.

Luke sobered a little, nodding. "No, I didn't. Sorry, it's just… good to see you again. You're just so grown up now, it's hard for me to see it – to know that time moved on without me. You're as beautiful as your mother now." His smile remained, but it was sadder, less amused.

I felt the ice melt a little off my heart. "Thank you, Luke. You look good too."

Luke half chuckled, running a hand through his longish sandy hair. "That's quite a compliment, considering I'm dead," He joked.

"That's not what I meant," I replied quietly. "I mean you look happy. Happier than…" I trailed off. I decided saying he looked happier than the last time I saw him wouldn't be very nice, considering the last time I saw him he was dying from a self-inflicted, fatal wound.

Luke smiled serenely. "I know what you meant, Annabeth. It's okay. I am happy. The Judges were kind when deciding my fate – Silena and Beckendorf say 'hi' by the way."

I nodded, letting myself smile just a little. "That's good."

Rachel, who I'd forgotten was there, silently got up and said, "Uh, I think we'll just leave you two alone. Come on Ella, Tyson, let's go."

Ella, carrying several books and scrolls in her claws and hands chirped happily. "Rachel nice. Rachel like books. Ella like books. Ella likes Rachel. Yep, yep, yep."

Rachel smiled kindly and led the harpy back to the main room, throwing me a glance that was clear enough. _'This guy tries anything, yell and he's gonna have an angry oracle on his hands!'_ Have I mentioned lately how much I've come to love this crazy ginger?

Tyson looked reluctant to leave, the expression on his face showing how well he remembered Luke and how the older boy had almost killed me and his brother multiple times before. "Annabeth will be okay?" he asked.

I smiled gently, and nodded. "I'll be fine Tyson. Go on with Ella and Rachel. I'll be right out."

Tyson hesitated for a moment longer, glancing between Luke and me before finally nodding, "Okay." He glared at Luke, "You hurt Annabeth, I hurt you."

Despite the fact that Tyson couldn't inflict any real damage to him – he was dead after all – Luke nodded solemnly. "She'll be safe," he assured the Cyclops.

Tyson nodded firmly once more then left the small cavern. I was suddenly very aware of how cold the room still was and of Luke's wispy blue eyes watching me. I wrapped my arms around myself, rolling my eyes to put off the feeling of unease seeping through me. "Is there any way you can crank up the heat in here? I'm freaking freezing," I grumbled.

Luke shrugged sheepishly. "It's the whole 'dead' thing – I can't control it."

"Lovely," I ground out, my mood souring at the idea.

Luke's mouth lifted at the corner. "Same old Annabeth. You haven't changed at all."

I shrugged, not really having an answer for him.

Maybe I was the same in most ways, but in many, I had changed a lot. I wasn't the same seven year-old kid this guy had dragged around the country. I'd fought the titan lord of time, faced some of my worst fears, learned my fatal flaw, and searched for a boyfriend that many said was lost forever. _Take that, Drew!_ I thought, smirking inwardly at the expression on Drew's face when we showed up with Percy in tow.

Luke took in my silence calmly, apparently immune to my cold-shoulder act. "I guess you and Percy are…?" He trailed off suggestively.

I looked up at him sharply. "Yes, we are. What about it?"

I don't really know why I was being so defensive. What did it matter anyway? Luke might have been my first crush, but it became pretty clear the older I got that he'd only ever had eyes for Thalia; many an Aphrodite girl had proven that theory. Plus – and I can't reiterate this enough – he's dead. Not much of a relationship to be had with a dead guy when you're still alive.

Luke held up his hands in a surrendering gesture, a small smile gracing his lips, making him look so much like his dad it was almost eerie. "Nothing, just that I thought you guys were heading in that direction when I saw you last. Glad to know you both stopped being blind."

That caught my interest. "What are you saying?" I asked, laughing a little, trying to cover up my unease. "You're telling me you actually saw something there when we didn't?"

"Annie, every demigod, mortal and god that's met you two knew there was something there," Luke told me dryly.

"I think you're exaggerating." I ignored the old nickname. Luke was the only one allowed to call me anything but Annabeth – well, him and Percy, but my boyfriend only ever called me Wise Girl and with good reason.

Luke rolled his eyes now. "Sure, whatever Annabeth." Suddenly the torches in the room flickered several times, and his form thinned and solidified twice. He sighed, "Hades is getting impatient. I'm not supposed to be here for long, just to deliver a message."

"And why, I must ask, did Hades send you to deliver this message?" I couldn't help but blurt out, curiosity getting the better of me.

"He wanted to make sure you'd take it seriously, so he used someone from your past that he thought you could trust. He thought I was that candidate… I'm beginning to suspect he might have been a little too confident in his assumptions," Luke said, looking hesitant for the first time since he got here.

I sighed, rubbing my neck. "I do trust you…" I began hesitantly. "Despite it all I do. Percy used to get so mad at me," I added, with a small laugh. "Every time I defended you, I thought for sure he'd never speak to me again. But I never lost hope," I looked up and smiled at my old friend.

Luke returned the smile, his broad shoulders relaxing now that the air was cleared between us. "Thank you." He said simply.

Suddenly he straightened, put his hands behind his back and cleared his throat, looking official… although his traitorous mouth was smirking ever so slightly. "Seeing as I am the son of the messenger god let me do this properly. You're message is as follows, 'Annabeth Chase, I, Hades the lord of the dead, am requesting you and your fellow heroes to undertake a special task. I understand the serious quest you are currently responsible for, one that was set in motion by the queen of heaven herself. However I am in need of a hero to assist me. As you know, my son Nico di Angelo has been captured by the earth goddess. Though I have never been open about it, I do care deeply for my son, as he is the only one I have had in several decades. My request to you is that you and your fellow demigods find him and if possible free him. My daughters are the key to finding him. Trust them, and you will find my son. Do not fail me, daughter of Athena, for you know I am not one to be crossed'." Luke rocked back on his heels and nodded to himself, looking satisfied.

It took a moment for the information to sink in. "Whoa, whoa, whoa – back up! You're telling me this message came from _Hades_? That he asked a bunch of _heroes_ for help? Hades hates heroes almost as much as Dionysus." I protested.

Luke shrugged. "I'm just the messenger, Annabeth, and the message _is_ from Hades. I can't tell you anymore than that, because quite frankly I don't know anymore." Though his tone was matter of fact, it was clear he really did regret not being able to give me more information. He knew how much I hated loose ends.

"Okay," I said slowly, messaging my temples. "Fine, if that's all Hades wants to give me, I can deal. What I don't understand is why he went to all this trouble? We were going to find Nico anyway. After all, he's our friend and Hazel would've trampled me with her horse if we didn't." At this point, I was mostly talking to myself – an old habit when I was thinking something out – so it surprised me when Luke spoke up.

"Maybe he was just making sure you gave it priority?" He suggested, trying to be helpful. "Who's Hazel, by the way? Is she a new camper?" He asked curiously.

"Um…" oh Styx, should I tell him? I mean, he's dead so he can't really do anything about it. But this information was on a need to know basis. Only the camp counselors knew that Hazel, Frank and Jason were from a Roman camp – the rest of the campers just thought they were loners for safety reasons. We didn't want to start a riot after all. Bad blood runs deep, whether Roman or Greek... Hey that rhymed! Oh for the love of the gods I'm turning into Percy.

Eventually I said, "Yeah… she's a new camper, and she and Nico are really close – they're like brother and sister." I held in a snort. Luke had no idea how much like a brother and sister Nico and Hazel were.

"Cool." Luke smiled, apparently accepting my lie. Just then the torches flickered urgently once more, and Luke's form began to fade. He sighed. "Well, that's my queue. I've gotta get back. Say hi to Percy, Thalia and my siblings for me, will you? Tell cabin eleven that I'm sorry I lost my head for a while and left them. Tell Thalia that she better be enjoying immortality and when she decides to join me, we can have some more adventures together. Tell Percy that I don't blame him for anything, and thank him for trusting me. Oh, and if he treats you bad, I'll haunt him for the rest of his life," he added, winking.

I laughed sadly and nodded, "I will Luke. Goodbye."

He grinned. "Bye Annabeth. Take care." Then he dissolved into mist.

_Hazel_

I ran all the way to the dining pavilion, looking for the others. I had to tell them what I found. I wasn't sure if I was right, but I had to try, I just had to. Coming into the pavilion, I looked around, finally spotting Frank and the others scatter between tables.

I wondered why Percy was by himself and why there were a couple of empty tables, when suddenly I remembered something Percy had asked me back in Camp Jupiter.

"_So the divisions,"_ he'd asked, _"the cohorts, whatever—you're divided according to who your godly parent is?"_

I'd stared at him. _"What a horrible idea! No, the officers decide where to assign recruits. If we were divided according to god, the cohorts would be all uneven. I'd be alone."_

Now it made so much more sense why the idea had come to him. That was how Camp Half-Blood was divided, by godly parent and cabin. Looking around now, I guess it sort of made sense. Although the cabin numbers were uneven, everyone looked happy enough, bonding with their half siblings over things they had in common because of their godly parent.

The Venus kids (_Aphrodite, Aphrodite! Get it through your head Hazel, or they'll think you're weird… uh, weirder_) all appeared to be chatting about makeup, fashion, jewelry, and style tips – even Piper looked like she was in on the discussion, even though she was the least girly one out of all of them, even the boys. Frank's siblings, the Ares cabin, were arm wrestling and burping and squabbling, but in general looking like they were having a blast, though Frank looked mildly uncomfortable. Annabeth and her cabin mates from Athena were having an intense debate, looking like the brainiacs they were. Percy, alone at the Poseidon table, quietly waited for lunch to begin, looking more relaxed then I'd ever seen him now that he was home. The list of demigods and their tables went on.

Not knowing what to do, and not completely comfortable going to the head table where a tall centaur stood, several fauns – uh, satyrs – gathered around it as well as a few wood nymphs, I went to Percy's table and sat down. He looked up, his face registering slight surprise that someone was there. He'd clearly been lost in thought.

"Hazel, hey," He said, smiling. "You okay?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I think so."

"Did you find what you were looking for?" He asked, sea green eyes reflecting his concern.

"I'm not sure… maybe," I hedged, not wanting to talk about it when it felt like the whole camp would be able to hear. I could already feel several stares boring into my back, reminding me of the few times I'd walked through the white neighborhoods in New Orleans as a little girl.

Percy seemed to sense my apprehension. "Don't worry about it, we'll talk later," he assured me, for once being tactful which helped calm my nerves.

I looked around, seeing that people were still staring at me. "Um, where am I supposed to sit? Aren't there any other Pluto – er, Hades kids?"

Percy shifted, looking mildly uncomfortable. "No, there aren't. There's only you and Nico. Just like there's only one son of Poseidon, and one son and one daughter of Zeus."

I frowned. "Why? I mean, I already have an idea why there's only me and Nico, or even Jason and his sister – which by the way, I never got the full story on that – but why are you all alone? Didn't Poseidon have a lot of kids back in the old days of the Greeks?"

Percy played with his glass, the cobalt blue, bubbling soda inside swishing against the sides. "It's a long story. The short version is after World War Two, my father, Zeus and Hades made a pact not to have any more kids. Their children had caused the war, and the gods thought we were too dangerous, too powerful. Zeus fell off the bandwagon first when he sired Thalia and again when he had Jason, but we didn't know about him. My dad also messed up when he sired me. Ironically, you're dad was the only one to hold to the pact – both you and Nico were born before it was made. Nico and his sister Bianca were hidden away somewhere that they'd be safe. You… well, you know your story," he said, rubbing his neck.

He went on after a moment, "Anyway, after the Titan War ended last summer, I was granted a wish for my service to Olympus. I made the gods promise not to ignore their kids – they had to be claimed by the time they were thirteen. I also had them abolish the Big Three pact. Now my dad and his brothers are free to have kids again, although as far as any of us know, it hasn't happened yet."

"And you're all alone," I added, understanding for the first time why Percy had said he was used to being the underdog.

Percy shrugged. "I'm used to it." He said shortly. I knew he was lying, but I didn't bring it up.

"So," I said, changing the subject. "Um, I'm a little lost on where I should sit."

"Oh, well," Percy glanced behind me. I followed his gaze, and found he was having a silent conversation with the centaur I saw before. A moment passed, and the centaur smiled, his dark eyes twinkling. Percy grinned back, and then turned to me. "You can sit here – just this once. I don't want you to feel alone and Chiron says it's alright."

I blinked. "Chiron? As in the trainer of heroes from ancient Greece?"

"That's him. He's like Lupa's counterpart… only a lot friendlier," Percy agreed with a small laugh.

I looked back at the centaur with a new respect. He stamped his hoof loudly against the marble floor and raised his goblet. The other campers looked up, and raised their glasses as well. I followed suit, suddenly finding a glass in front of me as well.

"To the gods!" Chiron declared and the rest of the camp echoed the sentiment.

I turned back to Percy, looking blankly at my empty glass. I was wondering where the wind nymphs were, like back home, when a wood nymph placed a plate in front of both Percy and I, but then moved off again. "Um," I pointed at my glass.

Percy smiled, "speak to it. Tell it what you want."

I stared at him. "You want me to talk to a glass?"

He laughed. "It can't possibly be the weirdest thing you've ever done. Just tell it what you want – anything is up for grabs, just no alcohol."

"Well, duh, I'm thirteen…ish," I said rolling my eyes. I looked at the glass doubtfully, but leaned forward. I whispered to the glass, "cream soda…" my drink filled with the bubbling liquid of its own accord.

I stared at the drink blankly, and took a tentative sip. Astoundingly, it was just like the soda I used to have back home. I looked up at Percy's grinning face. "That is _so_ cool."


	13. Chapter 13

_Hey all – I apologize profusely for missing my update last weekend. It's been a really long couple of stressful weeks for me and my family. Fortunately for us, our well earned vacation is coming up – a few days camping and then some time spent at a bed and breakfast. I'm really happy :) Unfortunately for you, I won't be back for two weeks :blush: Sorry! Also bad news, I start back at the college on the seventeenth of next month… yeah, I know you would love to throw something at me but fortunately you don't know where I live so… xD_

_Erm, :cough: anyway let's move on to the anonymous reviewers, shall we?_

_Lubi – I'm glad I could make you feel better! :D It has been an okay winter break, not the best but okay :) Hope you enjoy the update!_

_AceOfSpadeZz – Lol you never know ;D What can I say – flying battle ship, not that cool, automatic drink refill AWESOME! xD Thanks, I try :) I love how you picked up on that – it wasn't a typo ;) You'll see…_

_Two new book recommendations for today, "Along for the Ride" and "What Happened to Goodbye" both written by Sarah Dessen; these are great books for girls in their late-teens, and particularly for anyone that's been feeling a little down. They're written with realistic dialogue, fast witty humor, and moments that make you want to stand up and cheer. I will admit that while the beginning of A.R. is aggravating and at times you may want to bash a few heads in (or perhaps that was just me) the ending is worth it and it's my favorite of the two. W.H.G. is still good in its own way, even if the ending was not exactly what I wanted. Either way these are great books and you should check them out :)_

_Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, read, alerted and favorited my story. I hope you all find happiness and achieve your goals in the coming year. I send encouragement and fresh brownies to you all – the first to help you succeed, the second to help you pick yourself up when you fall ;) This will be my first update of 2012 and so in the immortal words of Edward R. Murrow, "Good Night and Good Luck" B-)_

**That's My Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter 13**

_Percy_

For the rest of lunch, Hazel was quiet, only occasionally asking a question about how the camp was run, who were the leaders, how they were elected, what we did for war games. I answered the best that I could to each question. Chiron was the camp director as our previous one was unavailable (thank the gods). There was a head for every cabin and they usually went by seniority but that could be challenged by anyone who wanted to take charge (which was, I assume, how Piper was head of Aphrodite). We played Capture the Flag every other Friday night and had other activities that filled the rest of the week.

I knew there was something on Hazel's mind when she didn't bother me with other questions that were more detailed. She seemed pretty absentminded, not even bothering to question why everyone got to eat basically the same dinner rather than our favorite meal. Whatever she found in Nico's cabin obviously had her preoccupied, and I decided not to ask her about it until we were alone but I didn't get the chance.

After lunch was over, Annabeth marched over purposefully and grabbed my arm. "We need to talk," she said shortly in a low tone before dragging me off. If I'd still had the Achilles' Curse, I probably would have been able to resist her, and realistically I should've had that ability now. My arm apparently disagreed.

I heard a few catcalls after us, mostly from the Ares Cabin, about me "getting it good" and "guess that says who wears the pants" and a bunch of other stupid stuff that I chose to ignore. There was no point arguing with Clarisse's siblings – I'd just get it worse.

Annabeth marched on obliviously and didn't slow down until we were at my cabin, which she knew would be empty for sure as Tyson was probably either with Ella or at the forges. She pushed open the door, hauling me inside then closing and locking the door. I rolled my eyes and extracted my arm.

"If you wanted me alone, you could've just said so," I joked, taking a seat on my bed.

I looked around the cabin happily, noting that someone had swept recently but otherwise it was exactly as I had left it nine months ago. My old Minotaur horn sat on a shelf above my bed. There were pictures of me with Mom and Paul at their wedding, some were of me with Annabeth either here or in the city or at the wedding dancing, and a few of me with Grover at camp taped to the wall. Amazingly, the saltwater fountain from my Dad – the one that I'd destroyed two years ago – was intact and gargling cheerfully. That meant either Poseidon or Tyson had taken the time to fix it or make a new one, which meant a lot.

Annabeth sat beside me and sighed, and I automatically put my arm around her waist and pulled her close, nuzzling my face in her hair. She smelled like strawberries. "What's wrong, Wise Girl?"

For a moment, she hesitated. Then she sighed. "I saw Luke."

I'm not sure what bothered me more; the fact that she hesitated to tell me something, or the fact that she saw Luke who, as far as I knew, was dead. I tried to keep my tone neutral. "No kidding."

She looked up at me. Her gray eyes were skeptical, like she had been able to detect sarcasm in my comment without it physically being there. She really was smart. "You're taking this very calmly."

I shrugged, not meeting her gaze. "I've matured a lot in the last year. Why would Luke bother me?"

"Because he tried to kill both of us," she pointed out, her tone suggesting that perhaps I had forgotten this fact. I hadn't. I was just trying to ignore it.

"So?" I said with an indifferent glance. "He saved all our lives when it mattered."

She let it drop, thankfully. "He had a message from Hades, well, more like a command really."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh? What now? Persephone have another 'errand' for me to almost get killed doing?" Annabeth gave me an odd look, which is when I realized that I'd never told her about that little trip to the Underworld with Thalia and Nico. "Uh, never mind," I said quickly. "What did he want?"

She stared at me for a moment before shaking her head dismissively. I secretly sighed in relief that my girlfriend didn't think it was suspicious when I just spouted off nonsense randomly. She was, after all, of the opinion that I had sand and kelp in my head instead of a brain.

Annabeth gave me the cliff notes version, which I appreciated. I loved those things, even though Annabeth claimed it was being a slacker and technically cheating. As long as it got me a B- on an essay, I had no problem whatsoever being a slacker/cheater. "Basically he wants us to rescue Nico. I've been talking the wording of the message over with my siblings, but they're as puzzled as me."

"I wondered what you were brainstorming over at lunch today," I remarked. "Why would Hades go to so much trouble for Nico though? I mean, yeah it's his son but they're not exactly best buddies. Besides, we were going to help Nico anyway."

"We went over it as well, and have no idea what to make of it. But the thing that's really got me puzzled is why he said, my daughters are the key…" I must've had the confused look I'm famous for on my face, because she rolled her eyes. "_Daughters_, Percy, as in more than one. Hazel is already with us, and as far as anyone knows, she's the only daughter of the lord of dead alive. Who on earth would Hades be talking about?"

"You said 'dead alive'," I pointed out.

Annabeth smacked the back of my head. "Would you please focus?"

"Sorry," I mumbled, rubbing my head. "I'm not sure if it's related," I ventured hesitantly after a moment, something just occurring to me. "But Hazel felt really compelled to look around the Hades cabin today, and when she came to the pavilion for lunch, she seemed really excited."

"About what?" my girlfriend asked, perking up.

I shrugged one shoulder. "Dunno, she never said. I think she wanted to wait to talk about it, when there weren't so many people around."

Annabeth nodded, "Probably."

"She'll most likely tell us later. Maybe when we're back on the _Argo II_ we can have a powwow and decide what it means then," I said, effectively ending the conversation.

Annabeth looked like she wanted to continue the debate, which I knew would've lasted quite some time, but I was not having it. I'd been gone nine months with only vague memories of my girlfriend to keep me going. This was the first time I'd been completely alone with her with no one around to interrupt or pull her away. I'd be damned before I let this opportunity slip through my fingers.

I reached up and turned her head towards mine, cupping her neck. As her lips puckered to form a question, I met them with my own and kissed her firmly. She stiffened for a fraction of a moment in surprise before she melted in my arms. Her eyes fluttered closed and her hands moved up to intertwine behind my neck.

I let one of my hands trail down her shoulders to cup her lower back, while the other threaded in her blonde princess curls. Annabeth moaned sweetly, driving me crazy. I slid my tongue over her pouty lower lip, and she opened obligingly. As our make out session grew in intensity, I leaned back until I was lying on the bed with Annabeth on top.

Kissing and cuddling on my bed, the saltwater fountain trickling softly in the background, I couldn't help thinking that this might not have been the Isle of the Blest by technical definition, but it was pretty damn close. And at that moment, that's all that mattered. That, and Annabeth tasted like vanilla.

_Frank_

When we left Camp Half-Blood soon after lunch, it was evident that everyone had something on their minds.

I hadn't seen Jason the whole time we'd been there, but as soon as we were ready to leave, he was striding up the gangplank like he hadn't been missing for three hours. Part of me wanted to know what he was doing all that time, but the saner part of me remembered that Jason was my praetor and knew better than to question him.

Piper followed shortly after Jason, saying something to a girl with braces and braids and a guy with curly hair before she got on deck. I still wasn't sure what to make of her. She was weird, like I'd told Hazel earlier, but she seemed nice enough. Still, that choppy hair cut was a little distracting, as were her multicolored eyes. I had resolved not to stare at her too much, or Jason might run me through with his sword… followed shortly by Hazel with hers.

Speaking of Hazel, she'd been distant and distracted all day since she came back from the Pluto cabin. I didn't know what had gotten her so quiet, but I knew it probably wasn't good. Few things were in this life.

When Percy and Annabeth came back, I was really confused. Annabeth's usually tidy ponytail was messily thrown together, her shirt disheveled. Percy's dark hair was most definitely more unruly than normal and his face was bright red. They kept stealing little glances at each other then blush and looked away. None of it made sense to me and I finally decided to just ignore it.

Leo and his siblings were the last to come on board. The Hephaestus cabin disappeared as a whole beneath deck, while Leo stuck around up top. I'd finally come to accept that Leo was an essential part of the quest and I couldn't avoid him. It didn't mean I liked him much, especially because he still seemed to make Hazel uncomfortable, but I could tolerate him if it meant saving the world. Maybe.

"Uh, guys!" Percy said, and his voice was noticeably a few octaves higher. He stopped and cleared his throat, his voice relatively normal as he continued, "We um, need to have a meeting. Annabeth," he glanced at his girlfriend and flushed once more, "uh, she has something she needs to tell us all…um, oh and I think Hazel does too! Right Hazel?" He added, looking a little desperate.

Hazel looked up with a confused expression. "Uh… I," she paused, her tone unsure. "I suppose… But Percy, I was hoping to talk about it with you and Annabeth privately first. It's not a sure thing, I might be wrong…" she trailed off uncertainly.

"Oh I'm sure we'll figure it out," Annabeth said quickly, her face flushing as well whenever she glanced at Percy. "Come on!" She added in a hiss, jerking Percy's arm and yanking him towards the bow, which we'd deemed as our meeting room.

Hazel glanced at me uncertainly, and I saw Piper, Jason and Leo doing the same. I shrugged helplessly. I didn't know what was wrong with those two, but I had a feeling we'd find out sooner or later. Something told me it would be sooner.


	14. Chapter 14

_Sup guys? :) I'm back! :D For future note, updates will now be every _other_ weekend. I know it sucks, but keep in mind people that I started back to school on the seventeenth. Also my mom's been riding me hard to be working regularly in addition to keeping up with my classes :p thank god I've only got four on my plate this year instead of five, at least there's that, right? :sighandshrug:_

_Okie dokey, let me lay a book recommendation on you, m'kay? First off, _Brainjack_ by some guy in Australia (sorry dude can't remember your name) is just about the coolest high-tech, scifi book ever. I'd rate it right up there with _Fahrenheit 451_ which is personally one of my favorites (if you didn't understand the book and/or didn't like it, screw you, it's awesome okay? One of the best books I was ever forced to read in English class). And I'm not being a brat saying that, it's just true imho xD None more for today, but I'll let you know if I come up with something else…_

_Anonymous Reviews:_

_Lubi – I'm thinking of nicknaming you 'loyal lubi' considering how much you review lol :D Not that I'm complaining ;) Thanks sweetie, much appreciated :D I just love writing make out scenes lol (but not lemons, 'cause I think those are sorta gross but still, oranges work well ;))_

_AceOfSpadeZz – xD rofl it does a good job, doesn't it? Lol what story is that? I want to find that now, if only to read that part xD I think you're obsessed with zombies, my dear friend -.-' Perhaps you should try another monster obsession? Vampires, werewolves and faeries are all popular choices this year ;D lol thanks for reviewing as always – your comments never fail to amuse haha :) I've never read the Kane Chronicles though I've heard good things, so no, no cameo for them, sorry_

_Kptwistepghost – Lol thanks :) You'll find out soon… very soon actually, just scroll down a little xD;) lol thanks again for reviewing_

_(No name provided) – While I'm not against Thalico necessarily, I'm not going to feature it in this story, sorry :) Thanks for telling me your opinion though, I always want to hear stuff like this B-)_

_Lastly, this one kind of skewed in a weird direction, so bear with me, please. Hopefully by the end of it none of you will be throwing rocks at me or trying to commit me – I dunno where my brain was when I wrote this, but it's what I've got so there you go and here we are :rolleyes: :p Alright, let's get this show started! Onward! :D_

**That's My Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter 14**

_Percy_

As everyone gathered in the helm room I couldn't help but glance nervously at Annabeth. She was trying to straighten her ponytail while purposefully looking anywhere but at me. What she really mad? Or just embarrassed? I've never had good people skills but I always thought I could read my girlfriend really well. Until now.

"Okay everyone," I said, making sure my voice didn't crack. That had happened far too often today. "We've got a lot of stuff to cover before we can leave. There's been a slight change in plans and our deadline has gotten a little more urgent." I felt like if I kept talking then maybe I wouldn't feel so uncomfortable.

Unfortunately Piper cut me off just then.

"Quest stuff can wait," she said, eyeing Annabeth and me. "What's up with you two? You were fine this morning then you left after lunch, and now you're both acting weird. Spill," she demanded.

Gods, now she was acting like her siblings, something that I had admired her for _not_ doing. Why was every Aphrodite kid I met such a pest? And, yes, I'm including Silena in that statement. She was always bugging Annabeth and me about our supposed 'underlying sexual tension'.

Oh, _di imortales_! Why did I have to think about that now? I could already feel a blush creeping up my neck.

"It's nothing!" I protested a little too quickly.

I saw Annabeth roll her eyes in exasperation. Despite all the quests I've gone on, the monsters I've defeated, even despite having fought and won the battle against a couple of Titans as well as two giants, I was still a terrible liar. My friends always said it was my eyes that gave it away. Supposedly, they were too easy to read, simply way too sincere for any kind of poker face to be effective. I would have to work on that… later.

"Dude, you seriously expect us to buy that?" Leo asked with a head shake. He fiddled with a handful of bolts, lug nuts and pipe cleaners absently but his gaze was focused solely on me.

I squirmed uncomfortably, folding my arms across my chest. "It doesn't matter," I said firmly.

Annabeth threw me a dirty look. "It sure as Hades matters to me," she growled.

I winced. Okay, for the record, she was both pissed _and_ embarrassed. Crap. "Wise Girl, don't be like that," I pleaded.

"Shut it Seaweed Brain," she snapped, with none of the usual warmth and affection I was used to hearing when she used my nickname. Now she said it like it was a plague or a dirty word... which, truthfully, kind of pissed _me_ off.

"Well how was I supposed to know?" I snapped back, my temper getting the better of me.

"It's _your_ stupid water fountain," Annabeth retorted as if that proved everything. "And you should have called her!" she added.

That was like a slap to the face. "I did call her," I shot back, angry and indignant. "In Alaska as soon as I could remember her."

"'As soon as you could remember'?" She echoed incredulously. "Do you hear yourself? You're a terrible son!" she told me, making me pause for a moment in pure shock and hurt before anger caught up with me.

"I had freaking _amnesia_ Annabeth!" I shouted my fists balled at my side. "I couldn't remember her, okay? I couldn't remember her, or my dad, or Tyson, or Chiron, or camp, or even Grover! Do you know what I did remembered?"

I didn't give her time to respond. "I only remembered you! …and not even that much," the adrenaline was wearing off to be replaced with the sadness and homesickness that had filled me for three long months. "At first, I remembered only your face – how your hair shined like gold in the sun and curled like a princess; how your eyes were so much like storm clouds; how when you smiled everything was absolutely perfect…" I paused my voice was calm now, soft even, in contrast to the anger of before.

Annabeth stared at me, her face perfectly still. She didn't say anything so I went on. "As time went on, I remembered other things. Your name; that you loved strawberries; that you're crazy about books and architecture. When you're frustrated you mess with your hair, pulling it up and down. You love white roses but won't admit it. I remembered that you laugh and kiss me whenever I say something stupid… which happens a lot actually."

Annabeth chuckled very softly and shook her head, running her hair through her hair. Just like I knew she would.

I stopped her fingers with my own, kissing them lightly, "The one concrete thing that I ever remembered was that I loved you, and I hoped and prayed – so hard – that when I came back to you, you would still love me too."

Her gray eyes shone with tears as she nodded. "Of course I do, Percy," she murmured and I pulled her into a hug. "Always," she added in a whisper only I could hear.

I kissed her head and ran my fingers through her hair. I knew then that we were okay again. Thank the gods, I hated fighting with her.

"Uh, can we come back in?" Jason asked uncertainly, poking his head in the doorway.

I looked up, surprised to find that everyone had cleared out of the room at some point. This is also when I figured out that an open case of bottled water that had been left in the room was missing all the bottles and they were floating around the room, looking like they'd burst any second. Oops.

I sheepishly set the bottles back into the case, catching the eye roll Annabeth sent the heavens before she kissed my cheek.

"Yeah, it's cool. Sorry," I said.

The others filed back in slowly, warily, like they were waiting for me to chuck a water bottle at them. Piper came in last and spoke first, "so what was that about?" she asked, unflinchingly while ignoring everyone's winces and face palms.

I glanced at Annabeth. "Oh she's a spitfire, ain't she?"

My girlfriend giggled. "You have no idea."

"So are you going to tell us or not? We haven't got all day," Piper interrupted again.

I sighed and fought a blush. "After lunch, we went back to my cabin. We were talking and then we started…" I trailed off and swallowed.

Annabeth shook her head, amused. "You face monsters every day, but give you a slightly awkward situation and you freeze up," she muttered. Louder she said, "We were making out."

Leo grinned. "Dude, nice!"

Piper smacked him upside the head, but she was smiling too.

Jason snickered a little but didn't say anything.

Frank glanced at Hazel and blushed furiously. It made me wonder – yet again – what the heck he and Hazel did that night on the Feast of Fortuna at Camp Jupiter when I went back to the barracks.

Hazel for her part looked mildly confused. "What does 'making out' mean?" She asked.

Heads swiveled in her direction and she blushed. "I'm from the forties people – forgive me if I'm not completely up to date on the slang!" she defended herself, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"We were kissing," Annabeth clarified. "A lot," she added unnecessarily. I blushed deeper.

"I have this, um, salt water fountain in my cabin," I picked up the short embarrassing story once everyone made it clear that I needed to say something. "It was a gift from my dad. It's good for Iris Messages. I um, sort of got one, while we were, ah," I rubbed my neck uncomfortably.

"I had my shirt off, so did he," Annabeth supplied, looking much less self-conscious than I felt. "Suddenly, guess who's trying to get a hold of my shirtless boyfriend?" she glanced at me, her gray eyes dancing with mirth.

I pleaded with her silently to just shut up and leave it at that. She didn't listen.

"His mom," Annabeth said, just like someone would've said 'it's raining' or 'its high tide right now' – perfectly nonchalant.

If possible, my blush grew hotter as everyone either laughed or sent me sympathetic looks, or both.

"Dude, not so nice," Leo corrected, wincing.

_Yeah, no kidding_, I thought. And my mom wasn't a happy camper to find that I A) hadn't called her yet since I've been back on the east coast and B) that I was 'recklessly' hooking up with my girlfriend. My worst moment came when she actually flat out asked if I had thought of protection. I could've died right then.

I snorted quietly. Hades would've loved that. He probably would have persuaded the Judges to make that my eternal punishment – that horrible moment lived over and over again. Though I felt like I deserved at least Asphodel after all the crap I've been through saving the gods behinds so many times now. Whatever, I'd deal with eternity when I got there.

"Well," Jason managed after a moment, "could've been worse."

I gave him a halfhearted glare. "How?"

"Could've been _her_ mom," he pointed out.

I gulped and suddenly the blush left my face to be replaced with a pale numbness. That possibility didn't even bear thinking. I'd have been a smoldering smudge on the ground so fast I doubt even the Fates would've had time to see it. One second alive, the next bam! Dead. I doubt there would be anything left to wrap a burial shroud around.

Annabeth seemed to feel my distress as she gripped my hand tightly and put her head on my shoulder. "Mom would have to go through me first," she whispered. I smiled tightly. I doubted that sincerely, but I left the thought unsaid.

"Well, now that we've sorted that out, let's get back to business, shall we?" Piper suggested, and just like that the awkward moment was gone and we were back to planning and plotting.

_A/N: Well? How terrible was it? :winces: Feel free to take out your frustrations over such a short and pointless chapter in a review – I deserve it. -_-' Anyway, thanks for reading guys! See you in two weeks!_


	15. Chapter 15

_Hello lovely readers :) I've missed you guys! Sorry this is coming to you on Monday rather than Saturday or Sunday, but my weekend was well, not booked solid but close enough – I also took the time to update my other PJO story "Children of the Sea" so if you read that, take a look *shamelessly fishes for readers* ;D I am really happy to report this story has received over 170 reviews, 145 favs, and 155 alerts – that's most definitely a record for me :D Thanks so much! To get things started, here are my responses to last chapter's anonymous reviews:_

_AceOfSpadeZz – xD Okay, that was a) one of the longest review I've ever gotten and b) the funniest review I've ever gotten xD lol thanks for the support and the continuing reviews – ubber long or not I love them all ;) oh and thanks for the story recommendation, I'll take a look B-)_

_Loyal Lubi – oh honey, I love your reviews! They always make my day :D Trust me, you could not annoy me with them; only if you started flaming would you actually annoy me, and I don't see that happening soon :) or at least I hope not ;D lol thank you, I appreciate that very much :D_

_Becca h – I will! xD;)_

_B – thanks, next chapter coming right up :)_

_Maluvelaz98 – I'm glad you enjoy it, but every week is simply not possible :) I'm sticking to every other, because it's all I can manage, but thank you for reviewing and telling me what you thought :)_

_Percabeth1 – sorry hun, but I simply can't do every weekend. My schedule is too busy for it. I am glad you like it though :)_

_Lightning Punk – oh thank you sweetie :) that's very nice of you – lol don't worry I love long reviews ;) is that book similar to the movie "Across the Universe", the one that featured all the songs from The Beatles? I _loved _that movie :) Even if it's not similar I'll probably look into it B-) I've heard of Mortal Instruments, but haven't checked it yet – I might now though :) I'm glad you agree with me on oranges lol lemons can be just plain nasty :p Tratie is definitely underappreciated – little as there is of it in the cannon books, it's quite sweet imho :D :grimace: yes someone said that, I apologize – I'm an American and frankly we tend to be terrible with geography, especially with Canada. It's like our attic, we sort of forget it's up there then we visit and we're like 'holy crap, look at all this stuff!' xD Thanks for the long review, it was really nice to get :) Also, yeah I don't tend to do the disclaimer, it's sort of just assumed really – obviously I'm not R.R. because if I was, Mark of Athena would already be out along with the other books…also I'm a college age girl, not a middle age guy with kids and a wife xD;)_

_I know a lot of you want me to keep updating every weekend but it simply is not possible. I'm having a hard enough time right now keeping my work and school balanced to have any type of social life left. As much as I love writing and hearing from you guys, it's simply impossible to write every weekend without something else in my life falling to the side, and I can't do that. You're all awesome, so please be understanding and don't mention my update schedule in your reviews as much; it's a closed subject, sorry :) Thanks for being there for me B-)_

_By the way guys, I have a question for you. I don't know if there are any batman fans out there reading this, but if there are, I want to know, have you ever watched the batman television series from the 60s? I personally love it – though it's as corny as Iowa xD – and I am kind of ticked off that ff dot net has no section for it under TV :( I'm not really sure if there's a way to change that, but if someone has a suggestion, or if you just want to talk about your favorite episode/villain/Robinism/etc from the series, write me a line please :)_

_Well, that's all for now, so let's get on with the story, hmm? Onward! :D_

**That's My Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter Fifteen**

_Hazel_

Seated around the conference table in the helm, I couldn't help fidgeting a little, worrying about what I was going to say. I knew I had to tell the others, but I had no idea how to even start. This was crazy! Would they even believe me?

I wished not for the first time that my brother was here – I missed him so much. Even though he was often brooding and many times his mind was elsewhere, I knew he cared for me and being near him was comforting. He had so much faith in me. He wanted so badly for me to have a second shot at life like he'd received. The only problem was while Nico could come and go to the Underworld as he pleased, I couldn't. Our father would never be able to openly acknowledge I was around without sending me back to the Fields of Asphodel.

Wow, thinking about it, I have a really messed up life. It's sort of depressing when I really consider it in all its sordid glory. Not that my life has ever been all peaches and cream either… well, maybe once it was. Never again though.

"Hazel? You still with us?" Percy asked suddenly, startling me out of my thoughts.

I looked up, blushing as everyone stared at me. "Yes," I murmured faintly, "I'm still here. What did you ask me?"

"When you came to my table for lunch, you looked a little excited, maybe even scared, but you never explained why," Percy said. "What happened in Nico's cabin?"

This was it. No turning back now. I took a deep breath. "I was looking through Nico's things, trying to find something that could help us. And," I swallowed, "I also was missing him a lot."

Frank touched my shoulder as I blinked back tears. I took a deep breath and nodded that I was fine. "At any rate, I found some pictures Nico had. There were some from camp."

Percy and Annabeth smiled in recognition, exchanging glances.

I went on, "A lot of them had him with you guys – although there were was a pretty big gap in the timeline of the photos that I want an explanation for later." Now the Greek couple grimaced.

"We'll go over that later, promise," Annabeth said, and Percy nodded.

"Okay. Well, there were also some photos from when Nico was a little kid – with his mom and his sister. Even one with Pl– er, Hades."

"That's impossible," Annabeth interrupted. She frowned. "The gods never take pictures with their mortal families. It's an unwritten but assumed rule. If the photos were ever found and compared with others that were taken later down the road or earlier in time, it could cause a lot of questions from the mortals."

I shrugged. "The god of the dead likes to play by his own rules – it's not as if anyone is going to argue with him."

Percy shuddered and muttered, "Point taken." When questioning looks were shot his way, he just shook his head. "You really don't want to know."

"Anyway," Piper said, eyeing Percy with an odd expression on her face. "You were saying Hazel?"

I nodded, "I, I'd never seen a picture of Nico's, uh, full-blood sister before, and I…" I stopped and stared at the table.

"Hazel, whatever it is, you can tell us," Frank said gently.

I nodded. "You're not going to believe me," I warned.

Percy snorted. "We're demigods – with all the weird crap we go through every day, how farfetched could this be?"

Annabeth slapped the back of his head. "Would you quit tempting the Fates?" she practically growled.

He frowned and rubbed his head but didn't take back what he'd said. "Have you been paying attention to our lives the last, oh I dunno, six years? Tempting the Fates is what I do best," he ducked to avoid another head slap, grinning widely.

Jason rolled his eyes, trying to hide a smile, which was so ridiculously like him. He may have been a big praetor and all, but he had a secret sense of humor, which mixed oddly with his sense of duty. I think he liked Percy's loyalty and battle skills, maybe he even liked the Greek boy's wit, but I'm sure it was also a little aggravating that Percy didn't always take things very seriously; at least not openly.

Leo snickered, muttering something along the lines of, "amusing organic life forms."

I decided not to ask. I liked Leo well enough – and of course there was still the fact that he looked like Sammy's twin brother – but I didn't think I'd ever understand him. I shook my head mentally. I needed to get back on track.

"Like I was saying," I paused once more just to delay it for a few more precious seconds, "I'd never seen her before in photos, but I think… I think I've met Bianca before."

That got Percy and Annabeth sobered pretty quickly. "That's impossible," Percy said seriously. "Bianca died about four years ago and even if you could have bumped into her in the Underworld, she's not there anymore. She chose to be reborn."

I shrugged. "I'm just telling you what I know. I've met her, and it wasn't in the Underworld. It was in California. When I was traveling to Camp Jupiter, I met her in a small town north of San Francisco."

"Are you _sure_ it was her, Hazel?" Annabeth pressed.

"If it wasn't her, then she looked an awful lot like the girl in the photo." I frowned, remembering the encounter. "I bumped into her near a supermarket. I was getting food for me and Nico. She was… young, maybe five? Seven at the most. She was with her mom, or who I assumed was her mom. I remember the mother said something about needing the snacks they were buying for the long plane ride. I guess they were going on a trip somewhere."

"Bianca chose to be reborn, what, two or three years ago? How could she already be a little kid? And wouldn't she look different?" Percy asked, looking at Annabeth.

Annabeth shrugged. "I've never completely understood the process of being reborn, whether it means you start over from birth or from just a young age and how much you may look like your old self. Chiron never wanted to talk about it, and the reading material on it is slim to say the least."

"So you're saying it's conceivable that Nico's sister could already be a six or seven year old?" Jason asked, looking perplexed.

Annabeth nodded thoughtfully. "It's possible."

"Would she be a demigod?" Leo spoke up, fingers pausing in their tinkering with gears and levers.

"She would have to be," Piper chimed in, narrowing her multicolored eyes in thought, "wouldn't she? I mean, the whole point is to die a hero three times, right?"

"You don't have to be a demigod to die a hero," Frank said, glaring at the Aphrodite girl.

Piper blushed and sank a little in her seat. She held up her hands in surrender, "I didn't mean it like that! I mean, I know there are plenty of mortals who are heroes – firefighters, police officers, uh…"

"Military captains," Frank cut in with a frown. I gently took his hand and he sighed, clearly thinking of his mom.

"Right," Piper muttered, wincing. Something about her face… I'm not sure but there were times when I wondered if she could read minds – or just expressions. Maybe it was a Ven– er, goddess of love thing.

"There are others too," Annabeth said softly, fingering a man's college ring on her necklace, "history professors."

Percy smiled at her, "hopeful writers slash candy store clerks slash high school dropout moms and English high school teachers," he added, making Annabeth laugh.

"Female mechanics," Leo murmured a wistful look on his face.

"Iraqi spies, Latino teachers and Spartan kings," Piper added, one corner of her mouth quirking up. I wondered about that, but didn't ask.

"Eighties TV starlets," Jason said, his demeanor lower than before.

I sighed. "Gris-gris queens," I finally added.

Frank looked at the rest of us, slightly surprised. "Heroes come in all sorts, that's all I'm saying," he mumbled eventually. "Sorry Piper," he added.

She dipped her head once in acknowledgment but didn't reply.

"Of course they do," Percy said with a lopsided grin, "especially if they're our parents. It takes a lot of nerve to be the mortal mom or dad of a demigod. Or at least that's what I've always thought."

"Amen," Annabeth murmured, kissing his cheek.

"Enough with the pda's guys," Leo said loudly, looking annoyed and slightly disgusted.

"Just for that, we ought to sneak down to my cabin right now and finish what we started earlier," Percy waggled his eyebrows at Annabeth, who giggled but shook her head.

"Maybe later seaweed brain," she replied. This made Percy suddenly look comically hopeful.

Although part of me was still wondering what on earth a pda was.

"Can we get back on track here?" Jason inquired. "That is of course if you two are done flirting with each other for the time being?"

"We're done," Percy replied cheerily.

"Good. Now, what I want to know is, regardless of whether Bianca was reborn as a demigod or not, what is so important about finding her?" Jason leaned forward across the table, a strategic gleam in his eye.

"Yeah, why is she important?" Leo put in.

"Well, this is the news I've been waiting to share with you," Annabeth said, suddenly throwing a tense glance at Percy.

He sighed but motioned for her to go ahead.

She took a deep breath. "It's a long story, but I'll give you the short version. I had a friend who helped me come to Camp Half-Blood – he and Thalia took care of me when I was little, and we were on the run fighting monsters for a long time. His name was Luke."

Jason perked up a bit at the mention of his sister's name.

"Several years ago, Luke got a quest – he had to steal a golden apple from the Garden of Hesperides – but he failed. The dragon that guards the garden scarred his cheek and he almost died. He was different when he came home. Bitter, angry, withdrawn – I thought it was just because he'd failed the quest. His dad, Hermes, had given it to him and they had a rocky relationship as it was. It was more than that though. He was mad at the gods and it made him turn to Kronos during the second Titan War."

Percy gave an almost imperceptible snort. "Now she admits it…" he said beneath his breath.

Annabeth threw him a tiny glare and went on with the story, obviously choosing to ignore him. "Anyway, he came back to our side in the end and helped us stop Kronos' army from taking over Olympus, but he died doing it. I hadn't seen him since then. Today though I went to Rachel's cave and suddenly Luke was there. He was a ghost and he said he had a message to deliver. From Hades."

My eyes widened. "My father? Are you sure?"

Annabeth nodded solemnly. "The gist of it was Hades wants us to find Nico – like really wants us to find him. He said…" she stopped suddenly, mouth open.

We waited a beat, exchanging glances as Annabeth frowned and mouthed something to herself, though none of us could tell what.

"Uh, Annabeth?" Percy ventured, waving an inquisitive hand in front of her face.

Annabeth's eyes snapped to me, her gaze intense. Automatically, I leaned back a little away from her and my hand rested on the hilt of my sword. "'My daughters are the key'," She said, still half in a daze.

"What?" Jason asked.

"It's official, she's lost it," Leo pronounced dramatically.

"Shut up Leo," Piper snapped, waving her hand dismissively at him.

"I'm just saying…" he started to argue.

"'My daughters are the key'! That's it!" Annabeth broke in loudly, looking excited like she'd just solved a really hard crossword in the New York Times.

"What's it?" Percy exclaimed in exasperation. He threw his hands in the air, "you're not making any sense and for once it's not just me!"

Annabeth shook his arm impatiently, "The message, Percy! Don't you see? Hades said 'my daughters are the key' – it was plural not singular! I can't believe I missed that before," She added, mostly to herself. "That means that Hazel is right – she did bump into Bianca."

"Wait, so you're saying that Bianca could have been reborn… as one of Hades kids all over again?" Leo questioned, putting the pieces together.

"Exactly! If she wasn't then we're way off track, but she's the only other known daughter of Hades that he could have been referring to." Annabeth grinned.

"Whoa, whoa, back up," Percy said, holding up his hands, "aren't you the one who's always saying messages from the gods and prophecies can be fulfilled in a lot of ways. What if we're wrong? What if we need to find someone else that's a daughter of Hades? How do we know for sure?"

"For that matter," Jason added in concern, glancing out the window. "We're on a tight schedule. We don't have time to check both ways – there's not enough room for error. It's already late afternoon. We have to leave before sundown if we're going to stay on track and get to the UK."

Annabeth frowned and sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry I guess I just got all worked up. I really hoped that maybe we could find Bianca, even if it's the new her. It would mean a lot to Nico."

I frowned. Nico often compared me to Bianca and while I tried to squash the jealousy that flared up whenever her name came up, it was hard. Sometimes I wondered if Nico wouldn't prefer having Bianca instead of me. He'd said so himself – he'd come to the Underworld that day to find her, but she'd already been reborn, so he settled for me. Not to sound like one of the little whiny white kids from my old neighborhood, but I didn't relish the idea of someone 'settling' for me, especially my brother.

"At any rate," Frank said, breaking the tense silence around the table. "We have a direct order from a god to save a fellow demigod. I say we keep up with our current plan, but make sure that Nico stays at the top of our priority list."

"Agreed," Jason said and Percy nodded.

"Alright, so anything else we need to go over?" Leo asked.

"Grover's staying here at camp to keep better watch over the satyrs and the Wild. I think I'll ask him to send some scouts to see if they could find a possible daughter of Hades – if there's a Big Three girl out there, they'll find her." Annabeth stated firmly.

Percy nodded, "Good idea, I'll have Tyson do some scans from my Dad's palace – if they can't find her on land he might be able to find her on the sea. She'd probably be safest there anyway – Gaea might have a harder time tracking her, and the only other place Gaea couldn't see would be the sky. However, unlike some gods I could mention, my Dad doesn't often try to kill the children of his brothers." He shot a pointed look at Jason, who rolled his eyes.

"Don't look at me – not my fault my father is oversensitive," Jason crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat.

"Whatever, lightning boy," Percy said with a shrug. Jason glowered at him for a moment, then tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling, his fingers sparking ever so slightly in annoyance.

"Where _are_ Tyson and Grover?" Piper asked, shooting a look at a moody Jason.

"They're staying here at camp – its best that way, there's less chance of them getting hurt," Percy answered.

"Don't fawns age at half the rate of humans? So that makes Grover, what, in his thirties technically? I think he should be able to take care of himself," I said and Percy looked a tad sheepish.

"Yeah, I know, but Grover's my best friend and well… I've gotten him nearly killed more times than I can count – I hate putting the guy in danger," he explained.

"What about Tyson? He's a Cyclops," Piper cut in, sharing a purposeful look with Jason and Leo. "They're a pretty tough breed. Why do you feel the need to protect him? He's a general in Olympus' army isn't he?"

Again, Percy shifted in seat, folded his hands on the table and fidgeted uncomfortably. "Yes, that's also true… but Tyson's my baby brother. I can't help feeling protective of him."

"'Baby brother'? You're kidding, right?" Leo's face was priceless.

Percy smiled and shrugged. "The big guy's growing up on me, but he's only about twelve or thirteen."

"I will never understand monster aging," Leo muttered, shaking his head.

"Can we focus please?" Annabeth exclaimed, rubbing her head. "I don't mean to sound bossy, but we don't have time to dawdle here!"

"Dawdle?" Percy mouthed, clearly confused and I held in a giggle.

"Okay, so let's review what we're doing," Frank suggested. He began counting off items on his fingers, "first off, in a few hours, we're setting sail again and headed for England, the last place where the torch burned before it came to America – we don't really know what we'll find there, but it may help us gather time and skills before we get to Rome and Greece."

We all nodded in agreement. I could say this at least we all seemed to agree on what our goals were so far. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard as we'd once thought. Or it could just be the calm before the storm – there was no telling at this point.

"Secondly," Frank continued. "We'll head to the other countries in the ascending order of where the gods moved. When we reach Italy, we retrace Nico's steps, find him, and rescue him from Gaea's army… hopefully keeping ourselves in one piece."

"Más fácil decirlo que hacerlo," Leo said ominously. When the rest of us looked at him blankly, his eyes widened a little and he blushed. "Um, I said easier said than done… sorry, my Mom always switched between Spanish and English at the drop of a hat when I was growing up. It took me forever to figure out that most people don't talk like that." He gave a small self-conscious grin.

Frank smiled a little and continued his list. "Thirdly, at some point we need to meet up with the _Hunters of Artemis_," he glanced at Annabeth to make sure he'd gotten the name right and she nodded. "Right, we need to catch up with them – as far as we know, she's the only Greek god who's been communicating with the demigods regularly, with the exception of Hera who's been sporadic at best with her messages."

"Iris has been helping us too," I chimed in, shooting a sly grin at Percy who groaned and smacked his forehead.

"Green tea and wheat germ," he muttered between his fingers with a shiver, "never again."

Frank laughed and shook his head. "Lastly, we have to defeat the giants in their home turfs – Rome and Greece – and send Gaea back to sleep. Easy, right?"

This time I couldn't resist, and gave Frank's dark head a light smack. "Don't tempt the Fates," I admonished him halfheartedly.

"Oh why not?" Percy asked for Frank, throwing up his hands defiantly.

"Because, in case you hadn't noticed," Piper spoke up, eyes twinkling rebelliously, "they're real bitches."

Annabeth and Jason groaned. "I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that," Jason intoned, looking worriedly at the setting sun.

_A/N: Okay, I admit it – nothing happened in this chapter *ducks to avoid flying frappes* hey that's coffee abuse – the soy drinks I can understand, but don't punish good caffeine! 0o0 :p Anyway, this is the _last_ filler chapter for awhile guys, I promise! Next chapter, we'll be in London and there will be plenty of action to be had then :D That's all for now, see you guys in two weeks!_


	16. Chapter 16

_Hello everyone, I'm back B-) Holy rave reviews, Batman, the reviews were awesome! (That's my Robinism of the day ;D seriously, check the Batman 60s show on youtube under _11TL11_'s channel, particularly "Death in Slow Motion" and "The Riddler's False Notion", they're two of my favorite episodes :D). Here are my answers to the anonymous critics out there:_

_AceOfSpadeZz – Lol I always enjoy your inception moments xD That one about seven letters was especially good, but the Thriller zombies? Omg, I was laughing so hard, people were giving me looks in the library xD Thanks for making my day with that review, I'm so glad you enjoy my story :) (also, yes, that was unusually cruel of R.R. to introduce a cool girl like Bianca and then just off her like that, so I'm trying to make up for it ;))_

_Lubi – Aw, thanks :) well, glad to know someone didn't see it that way ;) lol probably next chapter will have the Hunters – I had to build up to it with this one, so I hope you like it :) lol ikr? Strange how that happens :D Thanks for reviewing!_

_RandomReviewer – Lol updating now ^_^ with percabeth added! ;)_

_In other news, homework sucks – especially math homework. Most of you probably know this, but despite the redundancy, I decided to testify to it here :rolleyes: Also, sorry for the late update again – it links back to my previous statement :P Anyway, as always, thanks for reading :D Onward!_

**That's My Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter 16**

_Percy_

If there's one thing that sets me on edge, it's an unexpected visit from a relative I've never been fond of in the middle of the night. Let me back up and explain.

We'd sailed from Camp Half-Blood late that afternoon, among many well-wishes from the campers and an encouraging send off from Chiron. Grover and Tyson had stayed behind as planned, promising to keep on the lookout for this other daughter of Hades.

The Hephaestus cabin, aside from Leo, were all staying behind. Leo had gotten the engines tuned enough that he could run them on his own without his siblings constantly checking on the systems, so he'd encouraged them to stay at camp and keep busy training in case it was attacked like Camp Jupiter had been. He didn't want to drag them into more danger, and I got the feeling that a few of them were more than a little relieved they wouldn't be on the frontlines with us. Strangely enough, they were concerned that Leo could be part of the end of the world – you know, the whole "_To Storm or Fire the World Must Fall"_ thing. Frankly, I couldn't blame them. That worried me sometimes too, but I tried not to think about it.

The weirdest moment of all though, came when Rachel came running up with Ella flying closely behind. The oracle explained hastily that we'd need to have Ella along with us. My redheaded friend kept emphasizing visions she'd been getting of what lay ahead of us, and that we'd need Ella to guide us, that the harpy had important information tucked away in her bird brain that could save our skins. I wasn't sure I understood what she was getting at, but we accepted Ella on board again, after she quickly but shyly said goodbye to Tyson, who blinked rapidly and blushed.

After that, we'd sailed across Long Island Sound and onto the Atlantic Ocean. I volunteered to take the night shift for guard duty, partially because I knew the others would need rest and partially so I could steer the ship and enjoy the still sea air in peace.

I think Annabeth suspected this, but she merely kissed me goodnight, and promised to relieve me in the morning for the next shift. That was the good thing about Annabeth – she knew when to ask questions, and when to leave you alone with your thoughts. And I was definitely in need of a discussion with my thoughts.

Being out here on the Atlantic, the ocean I'd grown up next to and my father's domain, brought back the feelings of confusion and sadness that I'd felt at Camp Jupiter. Why hadn't my dad ever said anything, or given me a real sign? Like, other than a salt breeze in the Neptune temple? Wasn't he worried about me? I'd been gone for nine months, throughout which I knew Mom and Paul were going nuts wondering what happened. Did my dad even notice I was gone? I knew time passed differently for immortal beings, but still, a lot can happen in nine months. Just ask any of the mortal parents of demigods.

Out of frustration (and boredom) I took out Riptide and practiced swiping, slashing and parrying at an invisible opponent. I knew I could go down to the training room below and hack at a real opponent (well, a dummy at least) but that would mean leaving my post, so I kept up my silent solo sword fight.

I wasn't paying much attention to anything around me, focusing on my footwork and thrusts instead. In one of my many ultimate ADHD moments on record, I didn't notice until too late that there was someone watching me.

I spun abruptly in mid slash, holding my sword out at the person behind me. Instead of looking terrified like I'd expected, the person looked amused, like I was a child who'd been caught sneaking a cookie before dinner (I'd know).

"Oh, how cute, you're trying to fight the air. Good job, I think you're winning," the person in front of me sneered, curling up his green lip to reveal sharp shark's teeth.

I blinked, stunned. "Triton?" I asked, pulling back my sword from my immortal half-brother's throat.

"Slow and stupid," he observed with an eye roll, "I honestly will never see what Father finds so favorable about you."

Now that my shock had worn off, my anger kicked in. I scowled at the minor godling, gripping my sword tightly. "What are you doing here, Triton? Aside from insulting me," I added.

Triton sighed, like he'd asked himself that question several times already. I noticed that he wasn't in the form of a merman, but rather looked like a regular mortal, if you overlooked the green scaly skin, shark teeth, and strong ocean scent. He was dressed in jeans, sandals, and a t-shirt with a trident that read 'Don't mess with the sea'. Just a regular college guy with scales and a moldy skin issue.

"Father has _requested_," he gritted out the word, making it obvious it was more of an order. "That I come to you and give you a message. Why? I haven't a clue. Last I checked I looked nothing like Hermes, and I do have things to attend to. Things that are much more important than checking up on _you_," he eyed me in disgust, like I was a piece of flotsam that had floated down and settled in his bed on the ocean floor.

I barely registered his animosity, too focused on what he'd said. "Dad sent you? What did he say?"

Triton frowned at the horizon, like he could see what lay ahead of us and it wasn't good. "He said you've done well so far, but there are obstacles you will soon encounter that will be difficult. He recommended you stay vigilant and trust your instincts, whatever they may be."

I frowned in confusion. "That's it?" I asked, disappointment coloring my tone. That message was about as enlightening as the one he sent before Thalia came back – 'Brace Yourself' hadn't exactly helped then, and this didn't feel overly significant now. Frankly, it seemed a bit redundant. We were fighting an army of giants and the earth goddess – that wasn't cause for bracing at all; in fact we were just kicking back and taking a weeklong pleasure cruise on this battleship, not training for a war or anything.

Triton sent me a condescending look, "were you expecting a detailed letter signed with hearts and kisses? Gods, you _are_ dense."

Immediately feeling resentful, both from my father sending such a short and pointless message and at Triton for being a world class jerk, I snapped, "Do you have to be such a crab? What did I ever do to you anyway?"

Triton scowled and narrowed his sea green eyes, the same color as mine and our shared father, "You seriously have to ask? You're a _half-blood,_" he spat the name like it tasted like rotten sushi, "you're nothing but an ill bred, upstart mutt. A mistake. Why Poseidon bothers with you, I'll never know."

Now, let's be clear, I can take most insults and let them roll off me like water off a fish's scales. Especially name calling by schoolyard bullies such as Triton. But when I get called a mistake and a nobody, after all the crap I've been through, that's when I get pissed.

"Last time I checked, you weren't the one who fought and defeated Kronos. You didn't almost die bathing in the River Styx so you had a shot at saving the world. You didn't lead a group of forty demigods through a battle in New York that was predicted to fail, and watch nearly all of them die right in front of you. You've never been called a traitor, a liar, or a coward. And you've never had to prove yourself to be a real hero when all the gods want to do was strike you dead, just to avoid a prophecy that would come true either way." By this time I was right in Triton's face, my fists shaking in anger.

"Minor godling or not, Poseidon's eldest and heir or not, you have _no idea_ what I have been through to keep this world alive! Don't you _dare_ try and say that I'm nobody, because I am. I am the hero of Olympus, the only mortal son of Poseidon to be born in decades, slayer of titans, giants, gorgons and other terrible monsters alike. Despite what you think, _Triton_, I _am_ important and I have no problem whatsoever with proving it right here and now," I spat. "You want to know if I'm important, Triton? Fight me now and we'll see whose important then."

For just a millisecond, Triton's eyes shone with fear, but then the moment past and his face was impassive and as hard as pearls once more. "Pay heed to the warning, _Perseus_, and perhaps you'll live long enough for me to blast you into a krill that I can crush underfoot."

With that, he dissolved into sea air and I was left steaming on an empty deck. Well, almost empty.

"Percy?" Someone asked softly.

I looked towards a shadowy area of the deck on the starboard side. Frank emerged from the darkness carefully, looking concerned. "You okay?"

I sighed, rubbing my neck and putting my sword away. "Yeah, I'm okay," I said eventually.

"Who was that guy? He was green," Frank pulled a face like he thought that was the weirdest thing about him.

I scowled at the spot where the merman had vanished, "Triton, my brother."

Frank frowned, "I thought Tyson and the Cyclopes –?"

I nodded. "I am related to all Cyclopes through my dad, but Triton is of a different sort. He's my immortal half-brother, Poseidon's eldest son. He's probably nearly as old as the gods themselves, but he still acts like a bratty little kid." I glanced at the ocean, noting for the first time that the sky was beginning to turn a lighter shade of blue that the dark obsidian it had been before Triton showed up. Sunrise was coming. Annabeth would be taking her shift soon.

"What did he want?" Frank asked.

"Aside from wanting to insult me?" I queried sarcastically. "He had a message from my father."

Frank looked a tad excited, "What did it say?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't get your hopes up. It basically went something like, _'good job, but you're about to get your asses kicked... just FYI.'_ Not very helpful, but then again, Poseidon doesn't have much of a way with words. Most of his messages to me over the years have been ridiculously cryptic, even though he knows I hate riddles and prophecies."

"He," Frank hesitated. "He didn't mention me?"

I frowned, instantly feeling bad. "No, I'm sorry Frank he didn't say anything about you. Honestly, I think that's to be expected. Poseidon hardly ever talks to me and I'm his son – first generation. I'm sure he knows of your lineage, but, well…"

I fidgeted and sighed. "He's a busy guy, as numerous people have informed me over the years. He's got a whole ocean to run, not to mention the rivers and lakes. And, well, gods are forgetful most of the time. They're trying to change, but old habits die hard and theirs are thousands of years old."

Frank nodded, trying not to look too disappointed. "Yeah, you're right. It doesn't matter anyway really. At least Mars claimed me – a few weeks late, but still, that's something."

I gave him a weak smile just as the sun began peaking over the horizon, throwing startling shades of pink, orange and purple across the vast sky. Apollo must've been in a festive mood that morning. "Yeah, it's something."

"So," Frank said after a few minutes of us watching the sunrise. "I was wondering… you've been on a lot of quests and stuff. There were things you talked about before your memory came back that didn't make sense. Now that it's back, you mind answering some questions?"

I thought about it and nodded. Annabeth would be a little while yet anyway, so I had time to kill. "Sure, what do you want to know?"

"Well, first, when you fell off that iceberg in Alaska, you said you'd fallen from twice that high before. Something about the St. Louis Arch?" Frank's face was comically confused.

I laughed. "That was my first quest. I was with Annabeth and Grover, and well, you know how my girlfriend's obsessed with architecture?"

Frank gave me a look like, 'really? I hadn't noticed'.

I chuckled, "Well, this incident was basically all her fault, but don't tell her I said that. We were traveling to Los Angeles and had stopped in St. Louis…"

_Jason_

I rolled over in my hammock and stared at the wall, blinking blearily. The sun was streaming through my porthole with faint light, meaning it was only early, early morning. Once more, I hadn't slept well that night, more than usual in fact.

Every time I'd manage to sink into oblivion, nightmares plagued my sleep more than ever. The visions I got were mostly distorted, murky pieces of my past. Despite Juno's reassurances, I hadn't managed to fully recover my memory, no matter how hard I tried. It was annoying and frustrating to get so close to something only to have it slip through my fingers, like a wisp of smoke.

When I wasn't dreaming of my past, I dreamt alternately of Gaea's taunting sleeping face, of Nico di Angelo being relentlessly tortured with visions from his own foggy past, or of my sister. The first time I'd dreamt of Thalia since I was reunited with her in the mountains, she was in a meeting with a small, auburn haired girl of maybe twelve.

The girl wore a silvery dress, sandals, a quiver of arrows thrown across her shoulder and a silver bow shaped like stag horns. Her eyes were a pale yellow like a harvest moon and shone with wisdom that was contrary to her young face. They were sitting in a small clearing in a forest, surrounded by tall dark trees. A small silver fawn was nibbling grass at the girl's feet, and she petted it absently.

"_Are you sure about this, my lady?"_ Thalia asked, fidgeting with the silver bracelet on her wrist.

The girl nodded solemnly. _"I'm positive. The answer is in London. I know it is not very common for me to send you outside of America, but my brother – annoying though he may be – has assured me that is where you should go. You must find the ancient scrolls before they fall into the wrong hands."_

Thalia eyed the earth under her feet nervously. _"Like, Mommy Dearest's hands?"_ she asked.

The girl's mouth lifted into a calming smile that was almost motherly. _"Do not worry, my lieutenant, she cannot find us here. This place is sacred to my honor, bound and wrapped in layers of protective magical borders. She may try, but she cannot see us. Not even our father can find my essence in this place."_

Thalia looked a little relieved, but she didn't relax completely. _"Does Apollo know for sure where the scrolls are?"_

The girl frowned now. _"No, he cannot see them that clearly. All he knows is they are hidden somewhere in the mortal city. He believes that long ago they were lost, but that at some point mortal historians found them again. He cannot be sure where they were taken after that though – the oracles are unclear on that matter."_

"_Could they be in a museum? London is full of those,"_ Thalia suggested.

The girl nodded. _"It is a possibility. If you cannot find them that way quickly, do not despair. You will have help on the way."_

Thalia frowned. _"What kind of help?"_

The girl smiled. _"Just as I am bound and depend on my brother, so you are with yours. It is the way with all children of Zeus born of the same mother. He will help you and the six others with him. When you have located the scrolls, you must work together with the Seven. United, you stand a greater chance of reaching your goal."_

"_My brother?"_ Thalia looked stunned. _"Jason?"_

As if in answer to my thoughts, a knock sounded on my door. "Jason? Are you in there?" Piper asked.

I took a deep breath, trying to rid my muddled mind of the strange dream. I had no idea what scrolls Thalia and the girl had been talking about, or how we were supposed to find them. I only hoped that we'd have more answers than questions when we reached England. I also hoped that I'd get to see my sister, like the girl had promised.

"Yeah, I'm in here, Piper. Come on in," I said, sitting up and running a hand through my short hair. I'd probably just made myself look like a porcupine, but at the moment, I could've cared less.

Piper tentatively peaked in, and smiled beautifully when she saw me. With the rising sunlight falling across her face, she seemed to glow like a goddess – and believe me, I know what that looks like. Her hair had grown longer in the past couple of months, and she hadn't had time to cut it, so the braids were longer and the way her bangs fell across her face it dappled her multihued eyes with shadows. Gods, she was beautiful and she didn't even try.

I smiled back, and tried unsuccessfully to hold in a yawn. "Hey," I said.

"Hey," she stepped inside and sat beside me on the hammock, giving me a small kiss on the cheek.

I put my arm around her waist, still amazed at the warm, peaceful feeling it gave me. "How are you?"

Piper smiled, making my heart hop and skip like I'd been struck with lightning… again. "I'm good. I was just coming to get you for breakfast. Percy said we'll be in London by midmorning, and we have a lot of ground to cover."

The mention of London made a sense of anxiousness and dread wash over me again, fresh from the dreams I'd had last night. Piper noticed the change in my face and frowned. "Jason, what's wrong?" she put her hand on my forehead, like she was checking for a fever and then to my cheek, smoothing her thumb pad over my skin.

Wherever she touched, goose bumps cropped up in her hand's wake. Yeah, like that was going to calm my already racing heart. "I'm fine. I just… I didn't sleep well last night, that's all." I ended lamely.

"Bad dreams?" she asked knowingly. Her expression said that she'd been suffering from them off and on as well, though she didn't look nearly as tired as I probably did.

I thought of Nico's sweat drenched face, his pained expression, his dulled and listless eyes. My mind flashed to Gaea's smiling, sleepy face and my sister's worried twitching. I suppressed a shudder. "You could say that."

"Yo, dudes," Leo suddenly poked his head in the door, though he had the decency to look uncomfortable when he saw how we were sitting. "Um, I'm making the chow in five, so get up top when you're, uh, you know… _done_, or whatever." He was clearly fighting a small smirk.

"Leo!" Piper shrieked, scowling at the Latino boy. "Get out!"

Leo made a face like 'aw crap' before he dashed down the hallway, his footsteps receding until we couldn't hear his sneakers anymore.

I smiled and shook my head as Piper smacked her forehead. I wasn't sure what was ahead of us in London, but I knew that at least I could count on Leo and Piper… when they weren't trying to kill each other.

_Annabeth_

I gasped. "Percy! Look over there! The London Eye! Oh, and the Parliament Building! And Big Ben!"

Percy looked and blinked in confusion. "You're getting excited about a Ferris wheel, what looks like a dusty old church and a clock tower?" he asked, clearly not understanding the significant architectural designs behind these buildings. Sometimes I wondered if Mom was right about Poseidon kids having heads full of sand after all – it would certainly explain quite a few things about my boyfriend.

I merely sighed. "You're hopeless," I pronounced.

"Took you long enough to figure that out," Percy replied with a grin.

I fought the urge to smack him. "Very funny."

"Hey lovebirds, if you can stop with the flirting for a moment, that would be great," Leo commented dryly.

We turned to the others, whose expressions ranged from annoyed, to amused, to giggling, to blushing, to smiling. I think you can guess who was who. "Sorry."

"No you're not," Jason retorted, smirking.

Percy shrugged and draped a lazy arm across my shoulders. "What can I say? It's hard to resist this girl."

I once more considered elbowing him in the ribs to remove the smug look from his face, but refrained. We had more important things to do.

"So what exactly are we looking for here?" Piper questioned, glancing around at other boaters along the River Thames. Fortunately for us, the Mist hid the true nature of the ship from mortal eyes; they most likely just thought we were a decent sized yacht with an unusual masthead.

"I'm not sure," I replied. "I just had a feeling we should come here."

"I think I know why," Jason spoke up. "I've been having these dreams. My sister is here, along with the Hunters of Artemis. They're looking for some kind of scrolls, not sure what they are though, they didn't say. They're searching museums in the city for them. Someone in the dream – a twelve year old girl with a silver dress, red hair and yellow eyes –"

"That's Artemis," Percy interrupted. "That's the form she prefers – in order to be the same age as her Hunters."

"Right, well," Jason went on, "Artemis said that we were going to end up working together to find these scrolls and they would help us achieve our goal. I think she was talking about defeating Gaea, but I'm not sure what scrolls she means."

"I could be wrong," Hazel chimed in. "But I've been talking with Ella, and she keeps muttering about scrolls, burned scrolls, and Queen's towers and a bunch of other stuff that didn't really make sense. But, from what Jason has been dreaming, I think the scrolls both Ella and Artemis meant are the Sibylline scrolls, or books."

"You think those scrolls Octavian is obsessed with are in London somewhere just collecting dust in a museum?" Frank asked.

Hazel shrugged. "It's possible. Great Britain was formed from the collapse of Rome, and the gods were there for almost as long as Rome or Greece existed. It's entirely plausible that someone – god, hero or mortal – rescued the books from the ruins of Rome and hid them safely away in a mortal museum."

"That makes sense," I said. "Who would look for the greatest books of prophecy in the archive of a museum? They could've been hidden for centuries and never found."

"Wait, back up a second," Leo cut in. "What would it matter if they were? Didn't that harpy memorize the books? What do we need them for, when we've got her?"

"He's got a point," Percy said.

"If you hadn't noticed, Ella is," Frank hesitated a moment, "hard to talk to. She speaks in the books she's read and it's hard to pin her down to one topic. It could take us weeks just to get whole prophecies out of her, and most likely they wouldn't apply to our quest. We need clear cut prophecies, not Ella's ramblings."

Percy and Jason both shot him a look.

"Clear cut prophecies?" Jason asked skeptically.

"That's an oxymoron," Percy added, rolling his eyes.

"At any rate, we need the books – not just because Ella is difficult to communicate with – but for a more important purpose," I said to redirect the conversation.

"What's that?" Hazel wondered aloud.

"I think I know," Piper said, "you want to keep the books out of the hands of the giants. If they get them, there's no telling what could happen. They could predict all our moves, or try to force prophecies to occur."

Percy shuddered slightly. "Neither of those scenarios are ones I want to find out about first hand, thank you very much."

"You're right," I said with a nod. "We have to find the scrolls, before Gaea's minions do, or we could be in big trouble."

"How are we even supposed to find the Hunters?" Leo looked around the city with a bewildered expression. "This place is bigger than my hometown multiplied twice."

I paused, thinking, when something occurred to me and I looked at Hazel. "You said Ella mentioned Queen's and towers?"

The dark haired girl nodded, narrowing her gold eyes. "Yes, why?"

I smiled. "I think I know a good place to start searching."


	17. Chapter 17

_Ummmm…. Hi? *dodges rotten fruit, seeking shelter beneath her desk* I know, I know, I know! I suck, I admit it! :p I feel really bad about leaving you guys hanging for as long as I have, but I've been uber busy! Really! I've been on Spring Break (small yay!) and I feel like I've been doing more on break than I normally would be doing while in school… which is weird. O_o_

_Also, to be frank (not really, I'm not tough enough to be a Mars kid xD) I haven't had a lot of motivation to write. I've had a lot of different story ideas swirling through my head lately, and I've wanted to write them down, so I've worked on those instead of this. Again, I am so sorry! Dx _

_Anyway, I've let time get away from me, I know, but I'll make it up to you guys somehow, promise! :D I'm here now – both in school and online – so hopefully the updates will be back on track after this :) So, on that note, I have an announcement. First off, I have a blog! :D I started one on weebly, and I'm going to try and update it pretty regularly. It'll have info on what I'm doing with my life (like that's important :rolleyes:) when the next update will be (yay!) and what stories I'm working on next (double yay!). Soo, look me up, okay peoples? The site is raepriteauthor (dot) weebly (dot) com B-)_

_Anonymous Reviews_

_euan112358 – Thanks :D I can assure you though, I don't live in Texas, I'm not male and I don't have a wife or two kids so, sadly, I'm not R.R. xD A girl can dream though ;) aww, thanks! I can't wait for the real MOA but I'm glad you're enjoying mine so far B-)_

_AceOfSpadeZz – I think you need to lay off the sugar xD Lol that was funny though! And don't worry I'm definitely laughing _with_ you! Oh and don't worry, I didn't get in trouble – just got a lot of weird looks, which is normal so I hardly noticed lol xD Thanks again for reviewing!_

_HGrox – Thanks, I try :)_

_Vio14 – Well, I would, really, but I can't since… well, I've never read them. Otherwise, I would probably put it in. There will be other Londonites thrown in there from various bits of pop culture, so keep a lookout B-) Thanks for reviewing!_

_Lubi – Thanks ^_^ I've been wanting to chew that guy out for a while now – seemed like a good opportunity ;) Thank you, you know I try hard :) Thanks again for reviewing!_

_Oh, and one more thought, anyone here watch "Young Justice"? It's really, really awesome :D Kind of my new obsession right now – mostly cause it has Robin in it (I love him! :D) and besides him, the whole show is just super, pure awesomeness :D Check it out, kay? B-) In harmony with that, the Robin-ism of the day is: this story's become a disaster – heavy on the dis! xD Love that line, anyway… Alright, let's get moving! Onward :D_

**That's My Seaweed Brain**

**Chapter 17**

_Annabeth_

Once we had docked, we quickly grabbed a map from a tourist stand and began looking it over. People passing us probably thought we were on a scavenger hunt, or maybe high school backpackers on a summer trip – the latter of which could have been plausible, if it weren't for the fact that Hazel was only thirteen.

Oh well, maybe we could say she skipped a grade if it came down to it. Technically that was true; in fact, she'd skipped about five years of primary education and potentially eight years of secondary, not to mention the other sixty something years in between. Ugh, listen to me I'm beginning to sound like Seaweed Brain.

Anyway, I was glad more than once that we had the advantage of the Mist. Jason, Hazel and Frank's weapons – a gladius, a spatha and a bow and quiver of arrows respectively – weren't magically enhanced for mortal hiding like Percy's sword. Piper and I could just hide our daggers and Leo was only wearing an unassuming (though admittedly out of place) tool belt.

If it weren't for the magic hiding the truth from the mortals, we probably would've been arrested on the spot. As it was, a few bobbies gave us searching looks, so we quickly moved on and ducked into a small café. We used some of our mortal money that Chiron had supplied us with and bought breakfast pastries, juice and coffee.

Percy sipped his cup of straight black coffee (I'm not sure when he started drinking it black, but he claimed it was because adding sugar or creamer took too much time, especially when you were running from a monster and needed a quick pick-me-up) and looked over my shoulder as I studied the map. Jason leaned over my other shoulder while everyone else alternatively talked in low voices or kept a lookout for monsters or constables.

"So what are you thinking?" Percy asked softly. "Hidden in a secret compartment of the Queen's desk in Buckingham Palace? Stuck in a hollow brick on the side of a building, right where the sun will hit it on high noon? "

I stifled an eye roll and groan. "You've watched those _National Treasure_ movies far too many times."

"Can I help it if I can relate to those guys? They always have to solve riddles inside of riddles and are constantly dodging the law as well as bad guys – sound familiar? Ooh, you think we'll get to use that invisible ink trick I learned? That'd be so cool!" Percy enthused, ignoring my face palm. Out of the corner of my eye I caught Jason's lips twitching, Frank and Piper were smiling, Leo was laughing outright, and Hazel was definitely holding in giggles. At least someone was enjoying my boyfriend's horrible jokes.

"I highly doubt invisible ink will be on the agenda today," I responded dryly. Percy pouted but kept his other ideas about treasure hunting to himself. Thank Athena. "What I'm thinking is we'll hit the major museums first, and then try the smaller ones. If that doesn't work, we could start looking at some of the monuments of the city – it's possible something could be hidden in one of them."

"Annabeth, do you have any idea how many museums there are in London, let alone monuments?" Piper spoke up, looking worried.

"A lot?" Leo suggested weakly.

Piper sent him a light glare. "Try over two hundred and forty museums," she stated flatly. "Not to mention forty-four monuments or memorials."

Frank gave her a wide eye look. "You're joking."

"My father and I have come here a lot for shooting some films he's made, especially in the summer when I wasn't at school," Piper explained. "On one trip, my dad thought it would be 'educational' for me to see quote 'all the wonders of London'. So we did just that – for the week we were here, we visited every museum or monument possible. We didn't even get a third of the way through the list his old agent made."

She shook her head dubiously, sending her choppy hair and braids flying. "If you think the scrolls are somewhere in a museum here in London, we're going to need to limit our search down to a handful of possibilities. We don't have a week or longer to look."

"Beauty Queen is right," Leo said, ignoring Piper's punch to his arm at the nickname. "We need a plan," he pulled out a few pipe cleaners and washers and started tweaking with them, clearly thinking.

"What would be the most likely places a demigod or someone else could have hidden them?" Hazel mused, tilting her head to get a better look at the map on the table.

Percy sat back in his seat and sipped from his cup, his other hand resting on the small of my back. "History museums would be my first guess," he suggested.

"We need a narrower window than that," Piper insisted.

"What about an archeology museum?" Frank put in and Piper conceded that it was a possibility.

"It probably wouldn't be in an art museum," Jason mused, "or another specialized museum, like one for aviation or medicine or another specialized trade."

Wanting to keep up with the conversation and keep note of the ideas bouncing around, I pulled a pen from my backpack and began putting 'x's' over museums that were unlikely suspects and circles around the more possible ones.

"Could it have been hidden in a military museum?" Hazel suggested, glancing at Frank. His dad _was_ the war god after all.

Frank pursed his lips and ran a hand through his short hair. "I don't think so… the scrolls hold prophecies – even though some of them probably predict wars like the Prophecy of Seven, I wouldn't think a military museum would be appropriate."

The others agreed, and I put several more 'x's' on the map. It was beginning to look like a very elaborate game of tic-tac-toe, but at least we were getting somewhere. "Probably not a nautical museum," I murmured, mostly to myself and I felt rather than saw Percy nod in agreement.

Jason glanced at the map and frowned. "History is too vague of a category when you think about it – natural history certainly doesn't apply, and neither do historical houses."

"What kind of history are we looking for then?" I wondered as I crossed off Jason's suggestions.

"Stuff about the Greeks and Romans – ancient history," Leo suggested.

"There are a few that fit that bill," I said and put a check mark next to them.

Percy looked over the map and suddenly looked excited, "Ooh, I wonder if…?"

"Percy there's no way it's in a museum of magic items or in _Ripley's Believe It or Not_," I said giving him a look.

His face fell as he gave me a halfhearted glare. "You're no fun," he griped.

"I know," I replied smugly and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek so he'd shut up and focus. It worked.

Leo rolled his eyes, setting a windup toy shaped like a frog on the table – how he managed to make that out of washers and pipe cleaners I'll never know. The frog bent down and flipped backwards a few times as Leo commented, "Seriously guys, all this PDA around here is kind of making me sick."

"If you upchuck on me, I'm throwing you off the side of the ship," Piper threatened, looking deadly serious.

Leo gulped and slunk down in his seat. Smart boy.

"Anyway," Jason said, eying his two friends like he was contemplating who to hit first. "How's our list looking, Annabeth?"

I stared at the paper in front of me, my eyes narrowed as I silently counted off the possibilities. "Cutting out specialized museums; historic houses; natural history museums; art museums; military museums; trade museums; transportation museums; museums of magic or other ridiculously unlikely possibilities; religious museums or churches; sports museums; science museums and dance museums, our list cuts down too…"

Percy looked at the list and groaned, "Still way too many!"

The others either groaned or made other gestures of annoyance. Frank pinched the bridge of his nose, "Great, now what?" he asked.

"Let's not panic yet," Hazel urged, though she too looked discouraged. "We just need another factor to narrow down the list we have now."

"Like what?" Piper asked. "London is _huge_," she threw her arms widely for emphasis, as if to encompass the whole city.

"Maybe so, Pipes," Jason said calmly, "But we can't give up – not yet when we've barely started. We've faced harder problems and found a way out. We just need to think."

"Jason's right," Percy added. "There's something that we haven't thought about yet – something we've overlooked. It would probably help us figure this whole thing out." He got that thinking look on his face – furrowed brows, wrinkled forehead and narrowed eyes.

Normally, that expression meant he was probably about to do something stupid enough to get us all killed. Yet somehow, I still followed his lead, stupid plans and all. I sometimes wonder why that is and then I remember that I love him… Stupid Aphrodite, she always screws with my better judgment.

"And that would be?" Piper questioned.

Percy leaned forward across the table, his coffee now sitting forgotten by his elbow. "Okay, we've theorized that the Sibylline Scrolls were damaged in the Great Fire that destroyed most of Rome, but that they survived and were hidden by a demigod. Said demigod, according to what info we've gathered, most likely hid them somewhere in London, in the last place anyone would look for them – a museum of some sort."

"Percy, what are you getting at? We know all of this," Leo said.

"What I'm getting at is we've missed an important detail!" Percy clarified.

"And that would be what?" Frank asked in exasperation.

"We haven't considered the demigod himself, or herself," my boyfriend explained. "We know this person was resourceful enough to hide the scrolls. The question becomes then, what really would be the last places anyone would look and more importantly, what hiding places would have been available?"

"You lost me," Jason said, shaking his head.

The wheels in my head, however, were turning a mile a minute though. "No, no, I think I know what you're saying. When London was founded around the fall of the Empire, there weren't any museums or memorials or statues up yet. The demigod who saved the scroll wouldn't have had half of these places to choose from."

"Oh great, so we basically wasted our time for nothing," Frank griped.

"No," Hazel exclaimed softly, "we haven't wasted anything, we just weren't thinking about the time table." She turned to look at Frank her gold eyes alight with speculation. "It's like if you asked me about the end of World War Two – I wouldn't know a thing about it, because I died before it happened. All these museums in London we've been looking at, the majority of them weren't built until hundreds of years after Rome fell."

Piper was nodding along with the conversation, but suddenly did a double take at Hazel. "Wait, what?"

"She's like Nico – kid from the past – except she died and came back… long story, we'll fill you in later," Frank explained hastily, looking more eager about our options now. "So, what you're saying is, we have to look at our list and narrow it down by date."

"The closer to the date of that fire in Rome, the better," Leo continued the thought, tweaking his jumping frog with a small screwdriver he'd pulled from his belt.

"Well, what's the oldest museum or monument in London?" Jason asked, looking at me.

I stared at the café's clock across the room, not even noticing the time, as I mentally searched through my inner databank of architecture information on London. "Some of the oldest museums are the Globe Theater where William Shakespeare – son of Apollo – performed his plays for Queen Elizabeth the First, the Royal Armories in the Tower of London was first opened in 1592, and the British Museum which opened in 1759. The oldest monument is Cleopatra's Needle in Westminster, right next to the Thames," I replied after a moment's thought.

"That's four potential sights," Percy muttered, and I could tell what he was thinking. There were seven of us. We didn't have time to travel all over London as a group. It would take too much time, plus the more demigods were in an area, the more potential there was to attract monsters. On the other hand, splitting up wasn't a good idea either – small numbers would be dangerous, especially when Gaea could have sent some of her soldiers to find us.

"We're gonna need help," Jason said, seeming to read the glances Percy and I were sharing. He looked thoughtful for a moment, "I think I know where we can find it."

_A/N: Okay, so if you still hate me, I understand, but it's here now! Yay ;) This took a lot of research to write, believe me. I've visited London before – okay, so I was only there for a day, but still – and omg, the amount of museums and statues there is ridiculous! My family and I rode around on a double-decker most of the day and passed about a million of them._

_London pretty much has a memorial/statue for everything – there's even one for the animals that were used in WWII, including a tiny glow worm, (which was put in lanterns for the soldiers that were in the trenches, cause, you know, a fire around all those guns and bombs wouldn't have been a very good idea) ;)xD Cool right? Alright, so, whether you hate or not, I'd love a review ;) lol see you guys soon! B-)_


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